


Dreaming Reality

by silver_tongued_drake



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Minor Vaxleth, Spoilers for Briarwood Arc and developing from there, Where there were no dragons or Briarwoods to fuck shit up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 09:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8200247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_tongued_drake/pseuds/silver_tongued_drake
Summary: For the past few years, Percival has been dreaming of living a life of adventure with a gang of ragtag individuals from all over the continent, calling themselves Vox Machina. As the dreams grow in frequency, his family can't help but worry, and he himself can't help but wonder. He knows them to be dreams, since every morning he wakes up back into his usual noble self, but why do they always feel so vivid?You could imagine his surprise then when he catches a girl from his dreams trying to steal from the castle





	1. Woolgathering

**Author's Note:**

> Based on SoleminiSanction's idea shared on Discord, hope I did it justice

The gentle snowfall covered the roads of Whitestone as its people were cheering, laughing and singing from one street corner to another. Beer was flowing and smiles illuminated the faces of all those cheering the defeats of their oppressors of four years; the Briarwoods. Percy, for his part, was watching the twins struggle to swallow the pies being presented to them as part of the pie-eating contest they’d entered. He laughed heartedly as they both simultaneously look to each other before emptying their stomach’s content and happily stepping away from the table. Vex’halia looked back one last time to encourage her pet bear before joining his side and wiping her mouth with a disgusted expression. He looked softly in her direction before quickly turning his gaze back to the human-polymorphed bear eating the last of his pie.

It had been like this for a few years now. The lot of them, his troop, traveling the whole continent in search of a few gold and some trouble. He hadn’t been particularly fond of returning to Whitestone after so many years of nightmares, but he hadn’t been alone when coming back. He had a family supporting him, and now a sister to take care of as well. He’ll protect them with his life, all of them. But there was one person especially whom he’d gotten to care for recently… He didn’t realize how much she meant to him until not long ago, but now with each moment he looked into Vex’s eyes, or he’d see her smile, his heart would beat slightly faster and he wouldn’t be able to tear his eyes away but with an immense amount of willpower.

Trinket finally won by a tie, to the disappointment of many, but it didn’t really matter. This was just for fun (and cash, according to Vex). He looked skywards at the clouds that were sprinkling them with gentle snowfall and he closed his eyes with a small smile. It felt good to have his home back. Despite the nightmares, he was anxious but excited to start something new and better here with his adopted family. His eye felt heavy and a single snowflake fell on his eyelid, cold and bright.

Percy opened his eyes but this time he wasn’t greeted with a bright sky, but his bedroom. It was large and very messy, the window curtain was just slightly crooked where it allowed a small ray of sunshine to slip into the darkness and find its way directly to Percy’s line of sight. He grunted and reached for his glasses on the bedside table where a book was lying open. He eventually found them and quickly placed them on before sprawling back under his covers and closing his eyes.

Yet another dream. With Vox Machina, with _her_. He’d been getting them more frequently then usual, at least once a week now. He sighed longingly and raised a hand to run through his messy brown hair. After a few minutes of silently considering going back to sleep, a knock echoed from the door and he heard a small servant voice call his name. He begrudgingly rose from his comfortable position and walked over to the door. Breakfast would soon be served, he should get ready. Would he need help? No, he was fine on his own. Closed the door.

He sighed yet again and bump his head once on the wooden door. He’ll have to get ready for another uneventful day with the de Rolo clan, a life far less exciting than the one from his dreams that’s for sure. He dressed hastily but made sure to be presentable, his stomach was already growling at the thought of food. He tried not to think to much about pies though. He opened the door and walked through the various hallways with ease, nodding respectfully at every servants he passed by until he reached the dinning hall where was already seated the rest of the de Rolo members. He was late, but they were used to it by now. He took his place in between his older brother Julius and his younger sister Whitney, briefly taking notice of his mother’s disapproving glance at his late arrival. Small talk ensued about the day’s schedule for everyone and some projects that were to come. Julius asked Father a question about some sort of political issue and blah blah blah. Percy soon zoned out from the conversation surrounding him and silently ate his eggs while rethinking over his dream. They always felt so real to him: the people they met, the wounds they suffered, the cities they explored. Inevitably, his mind wandered to Vex’halia. What would it be like to meet her outside a dreamworld? In some way, he feels like there wouldn’t be any difference, he’d still feel like he was living a dream…

“…’bout you, Percival?”, a voice managed to pass through his daydreaming. He suddenly looked up with a fork in mid path between him and his plate. Everyone was looking at him expectantly, some with quickly growing grins. Mother had been the one to speak and she watched with a raised eyebrow, waiting for an answer. He swallowed and placed the fork down.

“Um, I’m sorry?”, a few muffled snickers.

“I said,” she repeated with a slightly exasperated tone to her voice. “Did you sleep well, Percival?”

Before he managed to answer, a voice to his right exclaimed mockingly.

“Why bother asking? Look at his face, he’s completely distracted! He had another one of those dreams, there’s your answer!”, said Ludwig. His statement was accompanied with another small laugh from the twins, Oliver and Whitney.

“Oh definitely”, said Cassandra, his youngest sister, seating at the end of their lot. “He always has that small crooked smile on when he had one”

“I think he actually looks more grim whenever they occur”, joined in Vesper, his older sister.

“No, definitely more chipper, remember when he wrote poetry after the one with the giant brain pool or something? There was a beholder, I think”, added Julius in a more matter-of-fact tone. Vesper nodded with reluctance.

By now, Percy had covered his face with his hands, letting them yapping over his Mother’s demands to quiet down. He should’ve never told them about it in the first place, now he had to suffer this in return.

“Oh come on! Stop pestering him or he won’t tell us what it was about the time!”, whined Whitney. He wasn’t sure if she was mocking or not.

“Silence, now!”, growled his Father. Everyone shut up and recomposed themselves in their chairs. He gave Percival a sadden look before turning back to his breakfast. “You don’t have to answer, son. Finish your plate and go back to your tinkering if you want”

Percy nodded silently and continued eating his eggs, at a slightly faster pace this time. No one commented on his dreams afterwards. His siblings liked to mock him, but none of it was with true ill-intent. In reality, they followed his dream adventures like a novel saga. Whitney, the more romantic of their gang, even proposed to write them down. His parents didn’t have the same attitude towards them, however. Once they’d become more frequent, or he started dreaming of some horrors that made him scream in the night to the point of waking the others, then they started to worry. They called in a few medics, even a few clerics of Pelor, but nothing stopped them. Eventually, they seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement that if they ignored it, the situations would get better on its own. Of course, it was hard to ignore it when their children would continuously tease him at the dinner table.

He quickly finished his eggs and excused himself from the others, kissing his mother goodbye before leaving to his workshop. The main floor was bustling with energy as the servants and few honorary guests for the next passing days went about their schedule. He nodded at everyone and smiled at the few he knew best. Tapestries and portraits of late de Rolos lined the walls, each one more proud than the other as the lineage kept strong through the years. He was born from a proud and fierce family, and though his siblings annoyed him to the best of their capacities, he wouldn’t trade them for whatever dream he visited once a week. Julius would continue to reign over Whitestone Castle after Father passed and so will his children after him.

The strong scent of melting metal and dust hit his nose once he opened the door to his workshop. His tools laid in various states of cleanliness and order on the shelves and tables. He’d let a small stove burn through the night to keep hot a plate of gold he intended to work on today. He had never dared to construct something from his dreams, he enjoyed building simpler things for now. And plus they were nothing but dreams, he thought. Who was to say black powder would actually work in reality? Nothing but dreams…

Today he would work on a new clock design, since Father had just broke his latest portable one. He’ll have until 3 o’clock before his history lesson so it should be enough time to finish the general template. At least he thought he would, he just forgot one tiny detail…

Percival was just finishing the mould when his workshop door swung open to let in three excited terrors; Oliver, Whitney, and Cassandra, all bearing large grins on their faces. Percy knew what was coming immediately and he braced himself. They surrounded him like predators cornering their prey and said nothing, just crossed their arms and looked at him expectantly. He sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly before waving a hand to the opened space before him, inviting them to get comfortable. Whitney clapped her hands excitedly and immediately sat on a stool close to Percy, resting her chin in her hands. Oliver was about to sit on a table covered in various trinkets before catching Percy’s eye and deciding to simply lean on it instead. Cassandra had no issues sitting on the floor. He sighed and started to narrate his dream in details. Well, as many details as he allowed himself.

He told them about the aftermath of their victory over the vampiric oppressors of a city. He told them of the Wintercrest festival the town’s folk held in their honour and the various activities they participated in. He mentioned his companions, how they were fairing. He described in detail human-Trinket to Cassandra who couldn’t get over the thought of having a pet bear by her side to protect her.

“And Vex?”, asked Whitney as she stood from her seat and took Percy’s hands in hers, lifting him in return. “Did you finally swoon in after your epic battle as she woke from her unconscious state and lean down to kiss her and declare your love in all its deserved fervour?”, she turned around him, never letting go of his hands and battling her eyelashes.

He raised an eyebrow at her eccentricities and answered in the most deadpan tone he could muster, “No. The end.” She pouted and let free his hands.

“Boo, you’re no fun”

“Don’t worry, Whitney, he will eventually”, answered a voice at the door that was left opened. They all turned and found Julius and Ludwig watching with smiles. Julius nodded to Percy before turning his attention to the girls, “Come on, you have dancing lessons to attend to. Don’t let Vesper suffer through Mrs Massord by herself”

“But I still have questions!”, said Cassandra as she rose to her feet. She turned to Percy with desperate eyes, “What about to the sister? The one who was controlled by the Briarwoods? Did you guys locked her up? Did you tell the townsfolk?”

Percy’s heart tugged at her expression and he wasn’t able to answer her question before Whitney managed to drag her away from the room, determined to save their sister from the stern dance teacher. He never told them about their fates in his dream; if his parents were worried now what would they think if he told them the rest of it? Ludwig didn’t allow him to ponder much however as his younger (and much more built) brother gave him a small punch on the shoulder to roused him from his thoughts.

“Soooo, when _are_ you? When his ‘dream girl’ gonna become something with you?”, Percy scuffed at the question.

“I don’t know! Believed it or not, I don’t have much control in how the plot develops. And if it were to happen then you can bet your arse that you’d probably be the last to know. Don’t you have lessons with Anders right now, anyway?”, he rubbed his shoulder which was starting to throb.

“No, he cancelled due to some morning illness. He canceled your history class with him for this afternoon as well. You’ll be joining us in equestrianism instead”, he smiled his most shit-eating grin as of yet. He knew how much he didn’t like riding.

“And who arranged for that, may I dare ask?”, he turned to Julius, by far his most sensible brother, and doing his best not to punch Ludwig from the smugness he could feel radiating from his being.

“I did actually”, Percy narrowed his eyes and he raised a hand to explain himself. “You’re stuck in this room 24/7 and barely come outside on your own. If I get a chance to take you outside, I will take it, brother”

A short moment of silence where the two had a silent stand-off followed until the younger of the two spoke up, “I don’t have a choice do I?”. Julius smiled and shook his head.

“Fine”, he spat. He turned around and sat back into his chair with the clear intention to continue his tinkering. He heard the footsteps of his brothers leave his workshop and he waited until he heard the door close behind them. It didn’t come. Intrigued, he looked over his shoulder to see Julius looking back with a concerned expression, holding the doorknob and ready to close it behind him. He took a short breath before holding his brother’s eyes with the serious look he wore whenever he joined Father for a business affair.

“You live too much within yourself, Percival. There’s a world around you that should be explored: wonderful cities, thrilling experiences, beautiful women… But you insist on locking yourself within that grand mind of yours instead. Please don’t blame us for trying to help you sometimes, it’s only because we care”, he smiled sweetly before calmly closing the door.

Percy turned back in his initial position, and brought his head within his hands. He tried hard not to let a few tears slip and he mostly succeeded. He knew it wasn’t healthy to obsessed over an imaginary parallel from his subconscious, but it’s not like he was doing it on purpose. Those people, Vox Machina, he loved them and he wouldn’t be able to forget them even if he tried. Here, he was just another de Rolo; a proud member of a great family line, no doubt there, but still just another name. He’ll never have his portrait contently hanging from the halls, the legacy he’ll leave behind isn’t even that important. But with _them_ , he was something more. A saviour, someone that visited royal members and whom people would cheer the name. He enjoyed that grim world a little more than he probably should, but he couldn’t help it; it was beautiful to him. He just hoped that he wouldn’t turn insane one day, a day where he wouldn’t be able to discern between his fantasies and reality.

The morning passed without another interruption and he managed to get fairly far within his project. Another day perhaps and it should be over. He washed up best he could and ran up to his bedroom to find his dusty riding clothes. He placed them on and arrived on the track within the next hour or so, which was a record for him considering he barely even knew where the place was located. The two hour class went by pretty uneventful and he did his best to follow his brothers along the tracks without falling over whenever his horse did a quick turn without his asking to do so. His Mother was happy when Julius recounted their outing during dinner and Percy couldn’t help but be proud of himself as well. Maybe he’d start taking the class a little more regularly…

By nighttime, he felt the most serene he’d been in years and was quietly reading to himself in the living room with Vesper writing something in one of her journals. The fireplace was crackling and illuminating the room but was threatening to soon let the flames die down. Loud rain was pouring outside and hitting the windows with intensity. Vesper let out a loud yawn and blinked a few times before closing her journal. She wished him goodnight and told him not to stay up too late. He extended his hand when she passed by without looking up from his book, she took it, and he kissed it before letting her go. She passed the hand through his hair in one quick swoop and left the room without a word.

Despite his promise to not stay up to late, he didn’t rise from the sofa until nothing but ash and broken lumber remained in the fireplace. He was a sucker for classic romance novel, as disgustingly unrealistic as they were, but he wasn’t going to be caught dead reading it during the day where there was a constant possibility of either Oliver or Ludwig or Cassandra jumping him, hence his need to finish it in one night. He trusted Vesper though, and Julius. The latter was already engaged and Vesper was mature enough to respect his life choices. Whitney was a bigger romantic than he was so she wasn’t one to talk. He stretched and killed the last remaining candles. He didn’t bother to keep one to find his way back to his room, he knew these hallways well enough after so many years of wandering.

He was barely awake when he walked through the shadows of the castle, the book tucked under his arm. Not a sound besides his fairly light footsteps and the heavy rain could be heard. As he rounded a corner not far from his bedroom, he heard a door closing down the opposite hallway. He stopped in his steps and frown, confused. Who could possibly be awake at this ungodly hour? Vesper’s room was on the the next floor up, so it couldn’t be her. His father working late perhaps? Curiosity got the better of him and, doing his best to forget all the ghost stories he’d heard during his childhood, he walked to the source of the noise. The portraits of his ancestors watched him pass with stern expressions as if reproaching his decision. Surely enough, behind one of the spare living rooms, he could barely make out over the noise of the rain a shifting of plates and metal objects. His frown deepened and he looked around for any objects that could potential serve as a weapon. An old decorative armour gripping a sword was standing a few feet away but he feared to make too much noise if he struggled against it. He opted instead for a random candle stand laying on a decorative table near him. If they were thieves, he’d be better off calling for help but he wasn’t sure yet, and he’d hate to disturb the nearby occupants if it was nothing but a mistake on his part. Slowly, gripping tightly the candle stand in one hand and laying the book down on the table, he opened the door and prayed it wouldn’t make a noise.

As the living room contained a window overlooking the mountains and fields behind the castle, the sound of the rainfall was louder here. The room was dark but the rare moonlight was enough to see the silhouettes of the furniture and objects. Percy couldn’t immediately see any person but another quiet sound of metal clanging against itself turned his attention to behind the lounging area. A shiver went down his neck and he slowly approached the source, keeping his makeshift weapon ready and raised to his side. Be brave, be brave, just like with Vox Machina. As he neared the cause of the noise, he managed to get a better look at the individual. With her back to him and crouched over a few decorative knick-knacks, the woman with her long dark braided hair was struggling to fit the objects in her leather bag. Adorned mostly in furs and leather, she didn’t immediately strike him as a thief, in clothing at least since she was obviously trying to steal his grandmother’s favourite devil figurines. But he didn’t swing down at her, even when he was too close for safety. In fact he could do nothing but stare at her. She looked… familiar, for some reason he couldn’t place.

Suddenly, her movements slowed until they stopped entirely. She turned around in one quick swoop and came face to face with Percival, who in turn stopped breathing altogether when she revealed her face. Beautiful with dark brown eyes, he recognized her instantly.

“Vex’ha—”, he started to whisper incredulously before he received a large leather pouch straight to the stomach and fell over from its weight. She slipped passed him quickly but didn’t manage to get far away before she caught her foot on her long cloak and came crashing next to Percy, who had just managed to regain his breath. She let out a small cry of pain from the impact and quickly tried to crawl away but before she managed to do so Percy climbed over her to stop her advance. She tried to fight back but he caught her arms and held them close to his chest.

“Vex’halia!”, he whispered harshly at her. She stopped her struggling almost immediately and looked at him with wide eyes. A small pause.

“What did you call me?”, she asked bewildered. Her lips were slightly parted with a hundred questions passing through her eyes. He smiled down at her, though he was sure his eyes showed the same confusion he could see in hers. It was her, his ‘dream girl’. The same dark eyes, the same wild attitude, the same beautiful visage… But how was this possible? And why was she here? She remained calm under him and was searching his face for any hints that could refresh her memory.

“Have I met you before?”, she seemed more curious now than afraid.

“In dreams, many times over. Do you recognize me, Vex?”, for his part, he had never felt more anxious than in this moment. “I’m Percy, does the name Vox Machina ring a bell? With you, Trinket, and Vax, and the others—”

A small thud connected with his head and he felt his body surrender to gravity. A hooded figure hovered above him before his vision filled with darkness.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Percy awoke laid on his back in the small living room, the sky still dark with the night and heavy raining. He was confused for a moment as to why he wasn’t in bed when it all came flowing back to him. He arose suddenly in a sitting position and was about to frantically search the room when a pounding headache overtook his senses. He grimaced at the pain and searched the back of his head with a hand. He could feel a bump starting to form and he winced when he touched it. A thin coat of blood came back with his fingers. It didn’t seemed to being flowing alarmingly from his brains though so he would live. After taking a moment to recollect himself, he searched the room with wobbly steps at first for any trace of the intruder. No, _intruders_. He had been knocked out and Vex’halia had been locked beneath him; there had been another one. Could it have been Vax?

He stopped in his tracks and he considered what he had just thought. Oh good gods… Was this the day he was losing it? Was he actually considering the possibility that his _imaginary_ friends were real? Oh, by Pelor’s light, he _was_ losing it! But she had responded to the name… Why was that? Nine hells, why did it matter! The castle has just been robbed and he was thinking of his non-existent crush! What kind of de Rolo was he?!

He angrily stormed away from the living room in search for a few guards. In any case, his grandmother’s damned figurines were missing and he liked them too, so he’d get them back, no matter who the thief was!

…damn it all. He should’ve just gone to bed like Vesper told him.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________

“ _Vex’halia_ ”, he’d said. A noble, living in a _castle_ , had recognized her and had look upon her face with joy and confusion. So far from the usual distain and anger she’d grown accustomed to. He had called her ‘Vex’… Only her brother called her that.

The latter was currently furiously running from one corner of their tavern room to another, making sure to carefully wrap the stolen belongings from the Whitestone Castle in a separate bag. For her part, she was sitting crosslegged on their bed, distracted by her thoughts and with no current clear intent to help him.

“You’re sure we haven’t met him before?”, she asked her brother for the tenth time since they returned to their room. He groaned at her and ignored her question, packing her bags instead. She rested her chin in one palm and continued her revery. After a few seconds, she broke the silence again.

“Maybe he was disguised when we met him. You know, like in those stories of princes visiting the commoners? Or maybe he visited Syngorn—”

“For the love of all that is precious, Vex’halia!”, he turned to her with a look of disbelief. “Don’t you see the urgency in the matter at hand?! He _saw_ your face! He’ll be sending every guard they have on us now! So get your butt moving and help me out before they come knocking”. He turned around and continued his frantic packing.

She sighed and started to sweep through the room to eliminate as much of their presence as possible, though mostly half-heartedly. Despite Vax’s attitude, she didn’t feel rushed or panicked like she knew she should feel. There was just something about that noble boy that entreated her trust. After a few more minutes, everything was ready to go. They had barely stayed a night and a day here so they didn’t have time to spread out their few belongings in every corner per say.

But Vex’halia still felt like she needed to stay a while longer. She’d been the one to propose visiting it for a few days, since the wildlife and the famous whitestone mountains had been praised in every city they’d encountered within the last few months. Plus something within her still told her she wasn’t done here. It must’ve reflected on her face since she heard Vax exhaled loudly and he brought her into a one-armed hug.

“How about we stay in the mountains for a day, okay? We didn’t steal anything that was majorly important, right? Maybe they won’t bother searching there then”, his tone was optimistic, though she knew better and could hear the reluctance in his voice. That didn’t stop her from flashing her brightest smile at him. He raised a finger at her face and waved it as a warning. “But if I catch you trying to go back to that castle, Vex’halia, then so help me!”

She pouted in an exaggerated fashion but eventually nodded when she brother continued to stare unamused. She wouldn’t argue with him right now, she’d gotten what she wanted. “I promise I won’t go back to the castle without your knowing”

He smiled and kissed her forehead, seemingly satisfied for now. They made their way out through the streets still flooding with the heavy rain. They managed to reach the forest without any issues and rejoin with Trinket who had been left to himself in a cave to the despair of Vex. Many bear kisses later, they pushed further within the mountains until Vax deemed it safe enough to rest undisturbed. From their high point, Vex could see the outline of the city beneath them, with the castle overlooking its streets. A few windows shined with light that hadn’t been illuminated before. The guards must’ve been alerted; whether by founding the boy’s body or by being awoken by him, she couldn’t tell.

Percy, that’s the name he’d given her. She grin when she thought back to his unconscious, peaceful face. She promised her brother she wouldn’t go back to the castle, but she knew more than one way she could bring someone out of it.


	2. Incubus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the encouraging comments! They're always soooo appreciated and make me squeak everytime I read them. Enjoy, my darlings

“…and we are sorry to announce that no one was found matching the descriptions given”, finished explaining the Whitestone guard.

The de Rolo family had all been conveyed to one of the meeting rooms within the castle, one that was usually for family issues. It was a small room, compared to some of the other quarters within the establishment, that consisted of a large central table and a few sofa chairs along the walls. It was still raining gently outside so the large windows had been kept closed though the curtains were parted to let some light in. This is were the family would usually meet up to discuss matters too serious for the dinner table but not serious enough for an actual business room. And apparently the robbing of some “simple” luxury decorations weren’t too much of a hassle to be concerned with.

“Thank you, Captain”, answered Father, sitting comfortably at the head of the table. “Keep searching as best you can for another day or two then the chase will be cut off”. He turned away for a moment, expecting the conversation to be over with. The soldier however looked down at the floor for a moment before bringing enough courage to speak again.

“If I may, my Lord. The descriptions in the first place were rather vague. My men are finding it hard to find anyone who _wouldn’t_ fit them”

Father’s brow creased slightly and he glanced momentarily at Percival, sitting between Vesper and Ludwig, before shifting his gaze back. He exhaled then waved a hand in the general direction of his second son and brought the hand back to rub his eyes. The captain exhaled a breath of his own and turned his attention to the young lord, who seemed uncomfortable with the sudden change of attention.

Percy had tried not to think back too hard on the event of last night. After alarming the guards, who had all seemed taken aback by his sudden agitation and frustration, especially at such an early hour in the night, he’d given them a description of the intruders before heading to his chambers and doing his best to sleep through the emotions and pounding headache. His father had been… annoyed by the circumstances when he was informed upon waking up, and it seemed his attitude towards the ordeal hadn’t changed since. He tried to think of nothing but the facts, what he knew for sure, without letting any feelings get in the way. He tried to forget about any speculation or theory and stick to reality. He swallowed and faced the captain with the best look of indifference he could muster at the moment.

“There were at least two of them. One was a woman, without a doubt. About twenty years of age, maybe more. Long dark hair, braided, with dark eyes…”

_Her hair is thick and extends to the small of her back. Her eyes are a brown colour that resembles melted chocolate._

“… She wore furs along her shoulders and mostly leather. She also had a cape and some feathers in her hair…”

_The furs have been salvaged from some of her kills, never bought, more sentiments that way and respect for the animal. The cloak was most likely given to her by Vax, since she herself finds them cumbersome for her expertise. The feathers came from a mountain bluebird’s nest she found unoccupied._

“…I didn’t get a good look at the second figure that assaulted me. All I saw was dark clothing and a hood. Not sure if male or female but they had long dark hair.”

_Male, though sometimes confused for his sister due to their facial similarities. Usually cladded from head to toe in dark leathers in order to avoid any sort of uncomfortable social interactions, amongst other reasons. They go by the names Vex’halia and Vax’ildan, respectively._

“And that’s all I can say”, he finished. Percy nervously glanced at his father; he knew it wasn’t much and he was afraid his temper might surface to strike at him for the inconvenience he was causing. He caught Cassandra and Whitney mouthing to each other from across the table with looks of confusion.

“Neither of them spoke to you, or amongst themselves?”, his eyes were still closed, covered by his large hand.

“No”, lies. “But the woman seemed to understand common”

“And are you sure they were human?”, he seemed about ready to doze off by now.

“I couldn’t tell, didn’t see their ears”, more lies.

Lord de Rolo sighed and rose from his seat calmly. In spite of his age, he still had a general juvenile appearance. He wasn’t taller than his children, his hair (despite the greying sides and stray hairs) was still thick, and his eyes glowed with energy in his happier moments. At this moment however, he seemed old and tired. He looked to Percival with tired eyes before turning to Julius, sitting next to him.

“Do as you wish with the incident, I leave it to your supervision”, and with that he walked to the door with nothing but a respectful nod to the Captain and left the room. The other de Rolo members soon followed, more relieved to be finally done with the boring affair. As Percy walked out, he caught a glance from Cassandra that resembled something like pity. She was gone before he could question her however. He was left to himself and his thoughts in the silent hallway.

He tried to not take his father’s dismissal as something personal. He understood that as a lord of a grand city he must have more important matters at hand than a petty thief. But what was he supposed to do? Let some intruders wander free and steal from their home, without at least a little forceful encouragement for leaving town as fast as they could? Percy felt a small pang in his chest at the thought of Ve— the _woman_ leaving the city. He still had some questions and he wanted to make sure of her iden— that she hadn’t stolen anything else. He groaned and tried to clear his mind for a few seconds before continuing his walk to his bedroom.

He just wanted a nap at this point. Just a long, undisturbed nap. Without any dreams, and just peaceful. He opened wide the door to his chambers and made a bee-line to his bed, pausing only to remove his boots before crashing face first into the soft covers. He resisted the urge to scream in frustration into his pillows. He let a moment pass to calm down and crawl into a more comfortable position on his back. Breathe in, breath out. He still had that pocket-watch to finish… He didn’t feel like working on it though. Perhaps he could sketch a few more designs he had in mind? Nah, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate and then he’d just get even more frustrated.

…maybe he could borrow another romance novel from Whitney?

For the love of Pelor, how pathetic he felt! This day would definitely go down as one of the worst days of his life, and it wasn’t even past noon! Percy let out a little whine and removed his glasses to lay them down on the bedside table, determine to sleep off at least part of the morning.

Before he could accomplish his goal, he felt a piece of paper as he removed his hand. He frowned, as it was unlike him to keep random notes on his nightstand: the one place he made sure to keep in a somewhat orderly form. He looked it over with blurry vision and identified it has a folded paper, bearing his surname on top with fine calligraphy. He opened it and found it to be very simple. He reached for his glasses and read the few words with growing interest.

_You’re a curious little lord, hope you slept well even with that nasty bump_

Percy laid the paper back to the table, a slight tremor to his hand. He hanged his head back to the ceiling and murmured in a low, almost menacing voice.

“Now you’re just fucking with me”, he said to the skies. No response.

Percival rolled back unto his belly and buried his face as hard as he could into the covers. Whether it was to prepare the silencing of his possible screams of rising frustration and anger or to smother the small smile he felt growing against his will, he wasn’t entirely sure  
_______________________________________________________________________________________

The next few days were a special kind of hell that Percy never thought existed; stuck between a desire to explore a fascinating intrigue and the sheer disgust and frustration he felt whenever rationality would kick in. He did his best to maintain his composure around his family, he even started to attend the equitation class as a regular now. But, for some reason, he never felt relax. He was jumpy and his temper was short. But despite all of this, all of the nonsense agitation he was feeling, a part of him felt like it was breathing for the first time. As if a thread that had been holding him back had suddenly shattered and he only now realized its existence. He didn’t like it, for now at least.

Vesper was the first to notice this change within him, or the first to at least confront him about it. One evening, three days after the initial disaster night, they were finishing the evening together like they’d come used to, with Vesper and her journals and Percy with a book. He had been re-reading the same paragraph for the third time before he realized what he was doing and groaned lowly to himself. He quickly reminded himself he wasn’t alone in the room and sealed his lips so he wouldn’t disturb Vesper. Without looking up from his book, he paused to see if he could hear her quill scratching the paper, indicating she’d hadn’t taken notice in his mood. Silence. He waited a few more seconds before he wondered if she’d just fallen asleep without him realizing it and he lifted his eyes to meet Vesper’s looking straight back. He wasn’t sure how long she’d been watching him, but from the resting position of the quill on the side table, then it was probably longer than he’d feel comfortable with.

Seeing that his attention was off the novel, she exhaled and turned his cold, calculated look for a softer and more affectionate one.

“I don’t know what’s happened to you during that night, Percival, but from those creases in between your brows that appear to just keep on deepening, the source of your fervour can’t be some simple decorative objects”, her eyes were sweet and motherly, Percy had no doubt that when the time came she’d be a great mother. “Know that you will forever have a friend in me, little brother, and that I’ll help you through all the Nine Hells if that’s what you were facing”, she smiled and stood up from her position. “I know for a fact that the night contains the hours where the mind tends to wonder more than in any other occasion, so please try to help your cause by abandoning the conscious torture that could await you and go to sleep early tonight”. She kissed his head and left without another word.

Percy turned his attention back to his book and re-read the damned paragraph another time before giving up. This time, he’ll listen to Vesper’s advice.

On his way over, he was tempted to make a small stop to the living room where he’d encountered the intruders but deemed it best not to and continued on. Unfortunately for him, his conscience wouldn’t remain free tonight. As he was getting ready to sleep, he found another folded paper placed half-hidden underneath his pillows, that same elegant calligraphy mocking him before he’d even opened it. He grabbed it hungrily and read the message.

_“Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowki de Rolo the Third”; I think I’ll just call you Percy_

Like with the previous note, Percy wasn’t sure if he wanted to tear the paper or kiss it.  
_________________________________________________________________________________________

The next few days followed in a similar fashion: his thoughts constantly tortured by this phantom woman that he despised and adored at the same time, his family growing ever more conscious of his temper change… Percy felt stuck between two worlds and he wasn’t sure in which one he should just give in. He needed a solution, and fast. It came on the fifth day.

Percival was just returning from his language class and heading to his bedroom to change clothes into something more comfortable to tinker with when he stopped short in the hallway to the door. Right in front of him, basking in sunlight pouring from the far end window, stood a single figurine no higher than 8 inches guarding the door. He approached it gingerly and looking around for any signs of who might have put it there. It was a statue of a devil: crouched on itself, curved horns circling its ears and a long snout resembling something between a dog and a bird, his forked tail curling up its back, grinning towards Percy as he took it for inspection. He recognized it immediately as one of his grandmother’s figurine. A small folded note had been resting underneath the devil and Percy took it.

_I’m no devil, and you’re no angel; come meet me at the Sleeping Wolf two hours before dusk, I trust you will be alone_

Percival’s heart did a little flip in his chest. He’ll maybe get his answers after all.

He knew he’d have to sneak his way past the castle. If he told his family he’d be heading out, either Ludwig would most likely try to follow him or his parents would stick bodyguards on him. Probably even both. Maybe he could get Cassandra to create a distraction for him or he could get her to help him plan a slip. Knowing her she might even know of a secret passage or something of the sort. Or it might be best to just go with the old faithful of “I’m not feeling too well”. He wasn’t the best liar though, and Vesper might feel obligated to become his babysitter if he did go with that option. Cassandra it was then.

He hid the note and the figurine into one of his chest amongst other trinkets, decided not to change clothes and went to find Cassandra. He had a good idea of where she was and he proved to be correct as he opened the door to the fencing room. It was a medium-size room with the opposite wall to the main door covered in large window sets that overlooked the gardens one floor lower. It contained nothing but a small table on one side and two chairs to leaving enough space for the training that was to take place. His sister had her hair tied back into a long ponytail and bore simple but elegant clothes and she was currently overcoming her adversary with ease as the poor fellow could do nothing but block and stumble backwards. Distracted by the opening door, the young man forgot his footing and fell on his posterior with a loud thud. Percy winced in pain for him and approached his sister now that she was done humiliating the lad. She seemed surprised to see him when she turned her attention to the newcomer.

“Percy!”, she smiled to him but it didn’t seem to reach her eyes. There was still something that clouded them with an emotion he couldn’t quite place yet. “What are you doing here?”

“Really, Cass, I think you’re being very unfair to the boy. He won’t come back if you keep on treating him harshly like that”, his tone was more amused than reprimanding however. He looked to the man in question who was just now rising and rubbing his arse with a pained expression. He raised a hand sloppily as if he was trying to dismiss the comment. He smiled before turning serious and lowering his voice into a whisper, “I might need your help”

He had her attention, and she turned serious herself now that she understood the stern undertone coming from her brother. “Anything you wish, Percival”

Three hours later, Percy was traveling a clammy and stuffy underground passage that was to lead him to a hidden room within Pelor’s main temple within the city. His sister had indeed obtained knowledge of a series of hidden passages, she only gave him access to one though, but one would do the job. Cassandra had asked many questions regarding what he intended to do, more than he would’ve initially expected, but he managed to satisfied her enough to let him go unescorted (as far as he knew). She promised to make up a reasonable excuse for his absence at dinner and divert any person from looking for him. He silently thanked her for the fiftieth time since leaving her at the entrance; he was glad to have her on his side. He had already experienced the pain of having her leave him for another opposing party and he wasn’t ready to experience it again.

He was more than happy when he finally exited the passageway, breathing in fresh air for the first time in what felt like two hours but was probably just thirty minutes at best. He brushed any dirt from his coat, not his usual one but a more inconspicuous one he borrowed from a servant’s wardrobe. He intended on giving it back in the same condition he found it, of course. He hadn’t been in the city as much as some of his other, more social siblings so he hoped he wouldn’t be recognized too quickly. He had a general idea of where the Sleeping Wolf tavern resided, he’d just have to make sure he’d arrive on time.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Somewhere within Castle Whitestone, Cassandra was mulling over an inner conflict in her chambers, looking at the flames within the fireplace with worry. Her room was more organized than Percy’s, but it was more bare than his as well. She wasn’t as much of a hoarder and preferred to love a few things rather than indulged in all she could find. The same applied to her social relationships. She only cared deeply about a selected few, and her siblings all resided at the top of her list. She loved Percival to death, she’d stand by him in front of so much. But she knew the human soul, and she knew when the betterment of a person should be addressed with a more public or wider group instead of a one-on-one.

Everyone within the de Rolo circle knew that their parents were concerned over Percy’s mental health. The siblings on the contrary had shrugged off their worry and instead encouraged the dreams. They saw nothing wrong with them; who wouldn’t dream of faraway and dangerous adventures with a group of friends where you would be worship as a hero when their life within the castle walls were nothing but formal luxury and dull for most of the year. It seemed completely normal to her for her brother to dream of more. The dreams seemed actually beneficial to his wellbeing; whenever he had one, he’d go about his day with a bounce to his words and relaxed composure. He never once became more violent, or unstable, or any less loving to anyone she knew. At least, until the incident a few days ago.

Percival had become more erratic, changing from one mood to another in record time. He didn’t sleep well, shadows had come to grow beneath his eyes. He seemed forever in thought and he tried to avoid any social interaction that wasn’t obligatory like lessons or eating sessions. All of that because of some women who supposedly robbed them.

No one had seen any intruders that night: not the servants roaming the halls late, not the guards searching the city, and not the residents of the castle itself. The living room where the items had been taken was rarely if ever visited and there was no inventory that could confirm if items had been taken indeed. Percy _did_ have a minor injury but it wasn’t anything that couldn’t have been done by slipping or by simple clumsiness. The guards who’d been alerted by Percy that night described him as being “wildly angered in his tone of words, but portraying a hopefulness in his demeanour that seemed odd”.

When Percival reported the intruders, she’d immediately recognized the description. She’d had enough afternoons with him where she would listen to his storytelling to be able to pick up on his feelings towards the characters he was talking about. Whenever he’d reference Vex’halia, his eyes would become longing, and his eyes had done the same that day. The appearance of the intruder matched perfectly the one she heard a thousand times of the half-elven ranger, and she guessed that the other must’ve been her twin.

If Percy was hallucinating now, or going mad because of those dreams, she couldn’t just let him do this to himself. She wasn’t stupid; she knew the moment Percy asked for a favour that it had to do with what happened that night. She let him go though, because he said he was going to look for answers. She just hoped he’d come back to her after this outing, telling her that he had finally found a conclusion. But… will it be enough?

Cassandra had been biting her nails worrying over him ever since that morning in the meeting room, and they were now officially destroyed for the coming month. She didn’t feel qualified to think of this problem by herself, so naturally she decided to turn to her siblings for help. She didn’t feel comfortable bringing it to Ludwig, Oliver, or even Whitney, and she feared that Vesper wouldn’t be able to be stern enough if things needed to go down that road. That left Julius… Diplomatic, loving, and protecting Julius. He was definitely the most qualified of their bunch, but there was just one problem: he had inherited from their Father’s temper. She was afraid that bringing him into the mix would create a whirlwind if Percy didn’t cooperate.

But she was even more afraid of losing her brother to himself. She’d made her choice. Gathering up the necessary courage, she closed her fists in resolution and walked to Julius’s office, praying to Pelor she wasn’t making a horrible mistake.


	3. Diegesis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...please don't hate me for publishing this so late. You guys don't know how unsatisfied I was for sooooo long with this chapter. Hope the final version ended up not-too-bad

The Sleeping Wolf was nothing special, not the best but definitely not the worst that Vex’halia had ever seen, and she’d seen many through her travels. There wasn’t a lot of patrons yet, but she’d chosen the time with care and she knew from experience that it would be a busy enough time where neither the owners nor the clients would be very attentive to the conversation she hoped to have with the young noble, but still under enough control where drunkards wouldn’t disturb it too much.

Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowki de Rolo the Third, Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowki de Rolo the Third, Percival Fredrickstein…

Why did nobles liked to have such complicated names? She had spent the last three days memorising it to the point where is came naturally off her tongue. She asked around at random moments in the city to fill her pocket with random information about him. The one with the knowledge is the one with the power, they say. He seemed to know some stuff about her so she intended on repaying the favour. She still wasn’t sure where he’d recognized her from, or how he knew about Trinket and Vax, but that’ll be the only thing he gets out of tonight if she has it her way. Despite the fact that she was very well aware of how dangerously downhill this could go for her, this was the most fun she’d had in months.

She’d ordered some boar earlier so her appetite wouldn’t distract her if he came. She hoped her note had found its destination without any problems. She didn’t know if the previous notes had made it as well, or if the chamber maid had gotten caught, but she had faith in the young girl. Vax believed her to be scouting the forest with Trinket right now to pass the time while he tried to sell some items they had… _obtained_ from previous towns. She knew his plan had been to stay near the main square place so she didn’t need to fret about being caught in this part of town. Knowing her brother, he would try to come back to her at sundown, but would get lost in the wilderness and arrive about an hour after that. So she had about a little more than two hours before she’d need to make the trip back herself. As her gaze wandered over the crowd, she let her mind turn to her last few days in Whitestone.

She’d dreamed last night, and the night before, and the night before that. She’d dreamed of him for some reasons. Well… She couldn't be entirely sure since the face had been blurry but her heart said it was him. The boy in her dreams always had white hair however, not brown like Percival von Nobleman. The first night, there’d been a giant eyeball with tentacles. The second night there was a white dragon in an ice cave, two giants as well. And yesterday there were vampires, followed by a festival. At first, her dreams had been mostly blurry, the images as well as the conversations, like someone narrating a story whose text is missing some of the words. But her latest one felt clearer; where she used to see only silhouettes she had been able to see defined outlines. She’d recognized those glasses of his, oddly shaped and resting on a beak-shaped nose… all details that only managed to fill her with delight. There was a festival, full of colours but all coated with white as well; filled with laughter yet she felt heavy in her chest. Her brother had been there, too.

She checked the time and found that he was late. She bit her lip anxiously; what if he wasn’t gonna come? She’d most likely move on like so many other times before but something within her crave to interest him, to poke more than is wise, to get closer to the boy and get to know him better. And besides she had questions she needed answered, concerning her safety and that of her brother, which top before any weird obsession with a young noble she might be developing. She forced herself to relax; just because he was late didn’t mean he’d be a no-show.  
…shit was that him at the door? Well damn, he looked good. She hadn’t been able to see him properly in the dark castle but now in the warm tavern light he was definitely pleasing to look at and — shit he saw her. It’s alright, she’s the top dog here, act cool. This is gonna be just —

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Hells! It truly _was_ his Vex’halia! That same mocking expression and that same look of confidence. Percival could feel the racing of his heart and a cold sweat sent shivers down his back despite the heat of the tavern. She was sitting down in a corner at her own table with an empty plate and a tankard in front of her. Her hunter eyes were already trained on him as he slowly made his way towards her, trying his best to keep his composure. When he deemed himself close enough for quiet conversation, he gave her a small smile.

“My lady”, he nodded respectfully, taking the liberty of sitting down in the seat in front of her. She was still wearing the same dark leather outfit he’d seen her in a few nights ago, even the cape. She was leaning nonchalantly against her chair and kept a close eye on all of his movement.

“So you don’t know me”, she said with a snark in her voice. He frowned, confused.

“Excuse me?”

“Last we saw each other…”, she offered him her tankard, which he refused. “you claimed to know who I was. But if that was the case, you’d know better than to call me a ‘lady’.”

“Um… well, technically that’s true, but it’s in my custom to… when referring to…” _Well this was off to a great start_. Thankfully for him, she stopped him before he could embarrassed himself further.

“I, on the other hand, know who you are: Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowki de Rolo the Third, third child and second son of Fredrick and Johanna de Rolo.”, she smirked. She reminded him of a cat when it played with a mouse. She observed him, letting her gaze wander over his whole form before slowly returning to his face. “You’ve got a long family line. Your family’s honour won’t be snuffed by some meager thieves in the night, so why did you bother stopping us? You don’t appear to be a brawler to me, Percival.”, he swallowed at her intense look, trying not to drown in the beautiful eyes that were so familiar to him.

“I couldn’t just let a thief defile my home and ta—”

“But you could’ve call the guards like you did afterwards”, she had a calmness to her demeanour, but the intensity of her gaze and the slight upturn of her nose made her almost condescending in her attitude.

“I was going off by intuition at first. I didn’t want to disturb the other sleeping mem—”

“But you must agree that it was pretty stupid. With a candlestick, if I remember correctly?”, Percy was starting to get annoyed. No matter who it was that was addressing him, he didn’t appreciate being talked down on.

“Desperate measures. You could’ve easily slipped away from me if I left to get help”, he rested his hands on the table, unwilling his body language to portray him as inferior. She didn’t reply, just raised an eyebrow at his change of tone.

“Now I ask the questions”, Percival said. “Why did you call me here if not just to pump your chest and patronising me to no apparent end?”, he raised an eyebrow and tried to match her wry attitude.

“Because I don’t trust that a noble man like yourself, sweetie, would recognize me and not immediately fill himself with either disgust or fury”, her eyes flamed with a passion he didn’t understand and Percy, leaning forward to match her stance, tried to mirror the intensity. She quickly scanned his face one last time before returning her gaze to his eyes. “Do you work for my Father?”

“No”, he answered back. He could feel the heaviness taking form in his chest. She _looked_ like the Vex’halia he loved, but this version felt so… different. He was torn between inquiry about his own questions and just leaving and forgetting their encounter ever happened. But he knew he’d hate himself if he went with the latter option. He smiles sarcastically. “Never had the pleasure”

She inspected him, looking for any signs that he might be lying. Once she was done with her search, she still didn’t appear completely satisfied but enough where she leaned back into a more comfortable position. Taking it as an opening, he exhaled and slumped his shoulder slightly. She was wary, he couldn’t blame her for it. But it was her that had invited him, the least she could do was give him a chance. Percival leaned forward again.

“Look, I don’t care about whomever your father is or whatever it is that he might have against you…” _Lies: he’d kill for Vex’s safety_ , “What I’m interested in is if the term ‘Vox Machina’ rings a bell?”. She looked confused, he tried again. “Have you ever caught yourself dreaming of adventures faraway with a… an unusual group of people? Myself included? You, your brother Vax’ildan, your bear Trinket—”

“What about them? How do you know about them?”, she returned to a defensive tone. He raised a hand to calm her.

“I told you”, he did his best to remain calm, but like every time he talks of Vox Machina and his dreams he can’t help but to get agitated. “I’ve dreamt of you, for a long time now! You’re a beast master ranger and Vax’s a rogue. You’re an excellent haggler and you would die for your bear. No one can resist your winks and you have a tendency to refer to people as ‘darling’ but it only increases your charm.” Percy felt his vision shift. He wasn’t in the Sleeping Wolf tavern anymore, he was sitting in his workshop at Greyskull Keep. Vex was sitting on his desk to his side and rubbing his head sweetly. He reached for her hand and held it firmly.

“You adore flying and whenever you can you take the chance to fly as high as you can. You love being gifted something, and you show your love through one too many kiss or ‘thank you’. You’re witty, a-and studious a-and… amazing… at a bow and…”, his voice started to die down as he realized what was escaping from his mouth. He returned to the tavern and he looked down at the hand he had apparently taken from Vex. He quickly took it away, a bright blush began to spread on his cheek. He didn’t dare look at Vex’halia and instead opted to remain silent, fidgeting with his fingers and trying to come up with an apology.

He didn’t expect the quiet laughter that cut his train of thought. He looked up surprised and saw Vex’halia, trying unsuccessfully to cover her mouth from the sudden fit. Percy felt his blush spread to his ears and neck. Vex eventually recomposed herself and returned her gaze, much softer now, to Percy’s. A ghost of a smile remained nonetheless.

“Well, Percival, I can’t say I’ve ever been serenaded like that before, I quite enjoy it actually. I also can’t deny anything you said, though I’m still unsure of the validity of your source regarding that information”, she smiled sweetly at him though her eyes still showed some wariness. “Apparently you can’t resist my charms either since you came here tonight”. Percy would’ve been perfectly content with melting to the floor right about then. At least she didn’t seem to be on the defensive anymore. She looked down softly before lifting her eyes with an air of pity. “I’m sorry, I haven’t heard of ‘Vox Machina’ before”

Percival felt the world around him come cascading down.

No, no no no no. She must have! She was Vex’halia… She even admitted it herself that everything matched. Percy felt his blood boiling with desperation, frustration… an anguished desire for her to confess that he wasn’t as insane as he felt. He clenched his fist and closed his eyes tightly. Don’t cry, don’t cry. Not in front of her. His breath quicken and his throat was constricting, almost blocking his airway. He briefly felt a hand grasp his before he focused on his breathing and nothing else. He wasn’t sure how much time past before he became aware of his surroundings once more. Vex’halia was crouched next to his seat and rubbing circles on his hands soothingly and looking up with worried eyes. A panic attack. It’d been a while since he’d had one of those. He tapped her hand reassuringly and gave her a quick smile, looking straight ahead and avoiding her gaze.

“I’ll be fine”, his voice was barely a whisper. He wanted to cry. “Sorry for disturbing you. I’m feeling unwell apparently”, he looked down to her and he felt a pang within him. All of this for nothing. He’d been filled with hope when he arrived here, and he’d be leaving empty-handed. It was useless to question her further if she couldn’t even recognized “Vox Machina”, the staple of his dreams. He shook his head and began to rise, “I think I should be leaving…”. Her hand quickly grabbed his arm.

“Stop!”, he stopped his movements. Her voice was low and soft when she spoke again. “Why do you care so much? You asked me the same question back at the castle, and now you look like someone killed your true love before your eyes. What _is_ Vox Machina?”

She had such beautiful eyes, how could he say “no” to them? He thought about lying to her, to tell her that it wasn’t worth it. To shove her angrily to the side and tell her to leave him be. However, he simply didn’t have the strength to fight anymore. He slowly sat down again, Vex’halia taking the seat next to him this time, and he told her about his dreams.

He had enough mind to retain some main key points, but he gave her enough so she could follow. He mentioned the other members, he talked of their journey into the Underdark, and he finished with the recent defeat of the Briarwood couple. He left out the parts about his relationship to the vampire/lich couple and the manipulated sister; that part felt too personal to talked about outside his dreamworld.

“That last dream took place the night before you and your brother sneak into the castle. I expect the next one to be in about two days or so”, he sighed in relief; he felt as if a large boulder had been taken off his shoulders. He waited, fidgeting with his fingers, for a response from Vex’halia. Yet, she remained silent. He looked over in her direction and he found her staring at a distant point, a frown on her face.

“Hello?”, he waved a hand in front of her eyes and she snapped out of her trance. He raised an eyebrow. “I hope I didn’t bore you to unconsciousness” _Please say no_.

“Um? Oh, no! Not at all!”, she looked unsure and she bit her lip. Percy frowned at her odd behaviour. “The sister in…”, she seemed to be searching for words before eventually looking at his hair and back to his eyes. “How… how do you feel about white hair?”, she swallowed nervously.

“What do you mean?”, he could feel his heart accelerate suddenly but he wouldn’t let his hopes blur his vision again.

“I-I mean, you know, if your hair was, like, white. Instead of brown”, oh Pelor, could she mean…? She bit her lip harder.

“What colour of coat do I wear?”, he didn’t need to specify; he saw her eyes click in understanding.

“Deep navy blue with gold and silver outlines”, Percy could feel the smile grow on his face.

“How many of my unusual weapons do I carry?”

“Two: a big and a small one”

“What coloured powder do I use?”

“Black powder”

Percy let out a loud exclaim of joy to the skies. He looked back to Vex’halia with the largest smile that graced his face in years. On her end, she simply looked bewildered, but her face also showed an uncertain excitement. He wanted to kiss her right there and then. He opted for kissing her hand instead. He let his forehead rest on it for a moment.

“Thank Pelor… Thank _you_ ”, he whispered into her skin. He returned his gaze to her face. He laughed nervously, “How is this possible?”

She laughed nervously herself before shrugging, “I have no fucking clue”. She thought for a moment, “Do you think my brother has them as well? Since he’s in them too”

“I wouldn’t know. Go ask him yourself and maybe you could bring him next time”

“Definitely, I’m not letting you off the chains now that you’ve penetrated my mind with sorcery, de Rolo. And I intend on getting to the bottom of this”, she grinned at him and he smiled back.

They planned to meet the next day at the same time, hopefully with a third member at their table. Percy had never felt this hyped before. He wasn’t insane, _he wasn’t insane_! He wanted to scream it from the rooftops. But then if he did that people would probably think the opposite. Realizing the time, the pair bid each other goodbye after a shared meal where small, normal discussion replaced one of extraordinary mutual dreams. As Percy made his way to the entrance to the passageway system and Vex to the forest canopy, the moon was already shining brightly in the night.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________

The last of the vendor stalls were closing for the day when Vax realised the hour and decided to head back to the forest. Hopefully his sister had been able to entertain herself well enough and not gotten herself into trouble with hunters or the rest. He pocketed the remaining jewellery and other items he hadn’t been able to sell, nodded to the traveling merchant who’d been his neighbour for the day, and made his way through the streets.

The night sky was clear, a nice change to the downpour of the previous evenings. The air was fresh, the stars were bright. Though he was more of a city dweller he could easily understand the appeal of living in the mountains. Whitestone was a nice mix of the two; a large enough city to grow a market of its own yet respectful enough to its surrounding wildlife not to expend too much.

Ever since their night at the Whitestone Castle, he’d been afraid that his capricious sister might be tempted to return to find that noble boy. She’d remain calm and obedient however. She was still intolerable with her various antics but nothing out of the ordinary. She’d begged once to come with him in the city to pay for some treats or whatever but he’d kept a close eye on her. He did lose track of her for close to thirty-ish minutes at one point, but he swear he kept a close eye on her!

Vax’ildan continued his pace with a determined rhythm, eventually arriving at a large opened square where in the middle stood an imposing tree. He didn’t pay it much mind and instead focused on the passageway he intended on taking in the distance until suddenly a loud (or at least loud in the silence of the dead night), sucking noise erupted from the tree’s direction. Like the warrior he was, or liked to believe to be, he immediately dropped to a crouching position, a sharp blade in hand. The tree had a large, spinning wormhole splitting it in half, creating a small breeze that made the grasses next to it dance wildly. He was about to scream for help when out of it came a very distraught looking woman. Her long red hair danced with the grasses and she held a tall wooden staff next to her. Antlers shoot out from her head and her dark green skirt floated around her form. The hole closed a second after she exited it and silence took over the square once more.

Vax stood immobile in his place, unsure what to do. No one but him and a passerby couple were frozen and watching the newcomer. The young woman looked around confused and trying to position herself, turning on her heels and searching over the roofs. She eventually seemed to realize that she wasn’t alone and waved exuberantly at the couple a few meters away. Shaken out of their state, they both walked away with haste. Her shoulders slumped visibly but she recovered and continued her investigation of the square. She didn’t seem too bad, kinda awkward in her steps but he didn’t feel anything threat from her presence. He sheathed his dagger and stood up. As he had been in the darkness previously, she just then noticed the movement that announced his presence and she raised her hand to wave again at the newcomer. He walked into the starlight, and she came closer as well.

She had a pretty face, her bare arms that must be freezing this late in the night were decorated with various tribal tattoos. She smiled warmly to him. The antlers, he realized, came from an elegant silver headpiece. Her ear were pointed, but only slightly; a fellow half elf then. A few feet before they could start conversation, she froze in place with an expression of disbelief. Before Vax could question her further the woman let out an ear-piercing shriek of joy and bull-rushed him. Disoriented, they both fell to the ground as the woman held him tightly and laughing softly.

“Um, uhhh excuse me, ma’m?”, is all Vax could think of saying at the moment. She let go of her grip on him though she remained hovering over, a large smile engulfing the lower half of her face and a shower of red hair cascading down and tickling his nose.

“Vax! It’s me, Keyleth!”, she came down yet again to hug him to suffocation.

Part of him was more than content with letting a pretty girl hug him to death but on the other hand he’d never felt as confused as he was in this moment.


	4. Vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick, short chapter before I dive into the insanity I'm planning for the next ones. Enjoy!

**_Meanwhile; somewhere north of Westrunn_ **

The grasslands expended for miles beyond the horizons all around. The light breeze typical to this landscape blew the tall weeds back and forth. The sun was beginning to crest down, bathing them in its last golden and pink rays. They had maybe another hour before darkness took over the skies and, looking at the endless road ahead, they didn’t seemed to be reaching a town any time soon.

Pike looked down at her goliath friend below her; she was sitting on his shoulder since her legs had long gone past their endurance for the day. She looked for any signs of wariness on his face since she didn’t want to make him to collapse from exhaustion, didn't matter how strong he claimed to be. A bit sweaty on the forehead, his breathing didn’t seem too inconsistent but enough to the point where she started to feel bad for him.

“Hey, Grog?”, she asked in a soft voice. He turned his head to the side to look up at her. “Wanna take a break, buddy?”

He laughed and shook his head, “What do you mean, Pike? I could do this all day!”. As he said so, he staggered in his step from a small pot hole he’d failed to locate in time. “…I meant to do that”

She laughed softly and decided that she’d let him do as he wished until sundown. If they failed to find a town or someone to inform them until then, she’ll make him stop to at least take a break before continuing.

The wind tossed her hair slightly out of its tight bun but it didn’t bother her too much. This had been the first time in close to over two decades that she’d ever left Westrunn, and as much as she liked her bustling town, the smell of freedom and adventure had something to it that was appealing to her rebellious spirit. The whistling wind amongst the tall grasses created the illusion of a music to which the fields danced to and the constant step of her friend made her body sway gently to the silent dance. She closed her eyes and let the melody of nature sooth her for a moment. She felt so serene, she could almost hear the music reach her ears. A soft flute, carrying a happy tune.

“Um, Pike? Do you hear that or is me head just being affected by the sun?”, Pike snapped out of her trance and glanced down at the goliath. She was about to ask him what he meant when she realized that her soft flute had never left her. She could still hear it.

She looked ahead of them at the road and saw in the very far distance a small oddity amongst the surrounding land. Maybe about two mile or so ahead of them was the form of a man sitting by the road. His form was blurry so she couldn’t make out much but an educated guess on her part informed her he was the source of the music.

“A see a man ahead. Maybe he could inform us about the nearest town and we won’t have to sleep in the grass after all!”, her optimism brought a wide smile on her face which Grog replicated with excellence.

“Onward, my steed!”, she added theatrically. Grog, without missing a beat, neighed and picked up the pace.

The first thing that struck Pike was how badly she’d estimated the distance between their pair and the man, mostly due to the fact that the stranger wasn’t growing much larger as they advanced. A gnome, just like her. Brown hair, bright purple clothes; it wasn’t hard to guess the musician’s profession from simply his appearance. He was holding a slender silver flute to his lips and playing a jovial folk tune. His eyes were closed at first, but the galloping of a half-giant man would alert anyone of their advance no matter how in-tranced that person was. He stopped playing once they were about 5 meters away and stood from his sitting position. He walked up to them with a wide grin.

Before Pike could introduce herself or her companion, the gnome bowed theatrically to them which took her by surprise. She smile and was about to try again when he abruptly stood up and with a soft expression walked forward.

“How blessed am I! Me, such a simple, lonesome, traveler for having the gods honour me with the presence of an angel itself!”

Grog turned his head to Pike while keeping his eyes on the stranger. “Is he talking about me?”. Pike chuckled but didn’t answer. She cleared her throat and addressed the bard.

“That isn’t necessary, kind sir, we’re lo—”

“Alas, she speaks! Is it heavenly allowed to listen to such music of the tongue when only feeble flutes like mine were invented? No, I think not and shall instead contempt myself to look upon your beauty”, Pike could feel a blush start to creep up on her cheeks. He was definitely exaggerating but she’d never been serenaded before so she still felt uncomfortable.

“Maybe you could help us, actually”, she kept it short, maybe he’ll understand more easily that way.

“Anything for the bodily impersonation of purity and beauty!”

“Well I wouldn’t call myself the purest man to be”, said Grog, still obviously confused by the exchange. The gnomes simply smiled.

“We’re looking for the nearest town to stay the night. We’re quite tired from our day’s journey”

The stranger’s face fell and he frowned slightly, muttering a small ‘oh’ of disappointment. “Well I’m sorry to say, my lady, but the nearest town from here with a tavern is about five hour’s march from here. You won’t get there before it’s past midnight, that’s for sure. Before that there’s nothing but smaller villages that don’t got much space to house a big fellow like your friend here”

Pike felt her heart sink. She’d knew going out in the unknown would prove tiresome and she wouldn’t always find a comfortable place to sleep but she had had the certain feeling in her heart that her goddess would smile on her tonight. Apparently not… Seeing her face fall, the stranger tried to reassure her.

“Do not worry! There’s a forest nearby with a most comfortable canopy that could provided as a nice resting place for the night. I’ll guide you to it if you’d like!”, he was already bending down to gather his few belongings.

For once, Pike didn’t have the heart to stop him. Something within her told her she could trust this man and he seemed jovial enough to provided as a much-needed entertainment for Grog. She looked down at her buddy, who was already looking up to her for her decision.

“What do you think, Grog? A little night under the star?”, it probably wouldn’t bother him as much as it could bother her but she’d still ask for his opinion. True to form, he grinned widely and stood a little straighter.

“Like true adventurers!”, he exclaimed. She smiled back and turned to the stranger.

“Alright then, lead the way, sir”, the smile had returned to all of their faces as the last few rays of the sun illuminated the sky.

They made their way for another hour or so, being lead confidently by their new companion. He was quite charming. Overly flirtatious and with a narcism that could compete with a god’s but with an evident heart of gold and no bad intentions. He quickly bonded with Grog, who offered to carry him on his unoccupied shoulder, and dropped the overtly poetic prose with simple conversation. His name was Scanlan Shorthalt, he’d recently left his traveling band to pursue his own fame, and was originally heading towards Stillben before being convinced to head more north to the unknown.

“Where are you two heading to?”, asked Scanlan as he prepared his bedroll for the night. They’d reached the forest line without an issue and they had already managed to spark a small campfire to keep warm.

“To the very far city of Whitestone”, answered Grog, eyes fixed on the fire and determined not to let it die out until his friends were asleep and comfy.

“Really? Don’t know much about Whitestone except that its surrounded by mountains and can be pretty harsh in the winter. Why such a dump? Ya got family there?”, this time Pike answered.

“No, more of a personal quest”, she was already ready for bed and her eyes were half-shut. She did her best to follow the conversation but she knew that the sweet embrace of sleep would soon come for her.

“Mhmm, mind if I ask?”, he asked politely, his eyes glinting with curiosity. After a moment of silence on her part where she didn’t deny the request, Grog took the liberty to answer again.

“Pike has visions from her Sarenrae and she keeps on seeing this one big ol’ tree in the middle of a square. We thinks there’s one like it in Whitestone so we’re checking it out!”

Scanlan nodded with understanding and turned to Pike’s form. She was watching him with a small frown, looking for a reaction on his part. You could tell a lot by a person’s reaction to religion, especially when the follower is undertaking what they understand as a divine task. He simply smiled that typical grin of his and nodded respectfully.

“Well, I most certainly am not a holy man but I respect their choices. Good luck to you both!”, and with that he covered his form with his blanket and closed his eyes.

Pike followed suit not long after, Grog decided to take a nightly watch. She found it hard to sleep at first, unfamiliar with the hard ground but eventually she found a comfortable enough position. They remained in silence for a long time and Pike was finally about to drift off to sleep when Scanlan’s voice ringed out into the night.

“Hey, as I said earlier, I was planning on heading north, hadn’t decided where precisely yet. Mind if I join you two until Whitestone?”

“I’m down with it”, Pike answered before feeling her eyelids grow heavy once more.

She heard a small, victorious ‘yes’ before sleep overtook her.


	5. On Tenderhooks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for every comment that you guys leave for me to read, they are such a source of encouragement to keep on writing. Enjoy this next chapter, my darlings!

The tunnels were damp and disgusting, the air was nauseating and foul; but as far as Percy was concerned he’d never breathed as easily or as fully as he was now. His feet were light, his heart sang, and a stupid grin wouldn’t leave his face. At multiple occasions, he’d catch himself sporting a loony expression and forcing himself to return back to a more controlled self. He sucked at it though.

His mind wandered over the possibilities ahead for his new friends and him, the discussions that were to come, and he momentarily allowed himself to imagine actually living a life like the one he dreamed of. Should he tell is family? Show them proof that he wasn’t a lunatic? No, it was too soon. His chest felt like it could burst from his ribcage though, and he wanted to scream so the world would know his joy! He wanted to share this happiness, share it with his _family_ , out of anyone he knew. But he needed time.

He stopped in his tracks. A thought had just popped into his head; since the twins were real, could there be a possibility then that the others also existed? Was Grog in Westrun, making shoes and living with Pike and her many-times-great grandfather? And was Keyleth somewhere in Tal’dorei, completing her Ara’mente alone? Was Scanlan still traveling with his old troop? A sense of adventure filled his heart like never before. He wanted to find the answer to each of these questions, he wanted to leave Whitestone for the first time in his life and see the world through his own eyes, for real this time. He picked up the pace and quickly finished the last of his journey through the tunnels, his mind running fast and calculating the feasibility of such an endeavour. When the door to the secret entrance came into view, Percy forced himself to return his focus to the task at hand.

The hallways were silent as most had already gone to bed or were occupying themselves in their respective ways. Percy did his best to avoid the passing servants and the other house guests, quietly making his way to his bedroom. He let out a sigh of relief when he found no one as he turned the last corner and he quickly dashed on tip-toes to his door. It opened without a creak and he calmly closed it. He let his hand rest on the handle for a moment, letting his heartbeat slow down to its normal rate. He rested his forehead on the cool wooden door and closed his eyes. He let out a small chuckle, had he become the troublemaker in his family now? He would’ve never thought…

“I admit that this sight is pretty funny, brother”, a familiar voice echoed from behind him. Percy immediately swirled around in a defensive position, hand still on the handle and ready to make a run for it, losing his happy grin.

Julius, for his part, didn’t move from his position. He was sitting at Percy’s writing desk in one corner of the large room, body fully turned to face the door. His arms were crossed, though his body language seemed relaxed and non-threatening. His facial expression however was… unemotional. The perfect, unfeeling mask every de Rolo sibling had learn to recognize on their father’s face. Apparently Julius learned to master it as well. The right side of his face was illuminated by the moonlight peering through the window overlooking the desk, basking the rest of him in cold shadows. Percival had never feared Julius in the decades he’d known his brother, even in his wildest fits of anger; but for some reason, in that moment, Percy’s breath caught in his throat and he found himself unable to retort. They both remained in silence, observing each other with curious and wary eyes. Eventually, Julius spoke again.

“You’re home quite late. What are you doing with those clothes?”, his voice sounded carefree and calm, but there was an edge hidden in his careful wording.

Percy let go of the door and tried to relax. He walked to his wardrobe and slowly took out new clothes. He did his best to avoid Julius’s gaze. “I went to the forest. I needed some materials for a project and I thought I could find them there.” _That sounded plausible enough, right?_ No answer came back but Percy didn’t bother to look back to see his brother’s reaction. He took out his sleeping attire from one of the drawers and walked back to his bed, pulling his dirty shirt over his head, still not meeting Julius’s eyes.

“Didn’t know the forest was this dusty, or had dried cobwebs”, he said pointing to somewhere in Percy’s hair. The latter didn’t respond, simply walked to his water bowl and washed away the mess his hair might have accumulated. He heard the snicker from his brother in the silence of the room.

Percival rubbed his face longingly as he straighten up and turned to face his elder. “Well,” he said with a tired voice, “I’m very exhausted, brother, not to mention very sleepy. I’m not sure if you were here waiting to scold me for my lateness but would it be possible to wait until morning? I doubt your reproach will have much effect if I’m not even able to stand up”. He gave him a small smile and rested his hands on his hips patiently. Inside however, his heart was beating fast and his throat was clenched.

Julius observed his face intensely. After a few seconds, he relaxed suddenly and gave a small laugh that momentarily made Percy’s controlled mask fall. Julius stood up and walked over to him, still smirking. He draped an arm over his shoulders and brought him closer, as if they were about to share in a conspiracy. He looked into his eyes, the intensity back again, and made sure Percival locked eyes before starting to speak.

“You don’t need to lie to me, Percy”, his smirk was still present, though it seemed less honest then before. Percy felt his heartbeat increase violently and he fret that Julius would feel it through their clothes.

“I’m not lying”, his voice was even but he knew Julius didn’t believe him.

“Come on, baby brother”, he paused, waiting for another answer or a confession. When he got none, he spoke again, “You went to see a girl, didn’t you?”

Percy felt his heart drop. He was caught, he had been caught… Maybe a city guard had recognised him and reported him back to Julius. He struggled for words and started to franticly start and end excuses that didn’t make sense. Julius continued to watch him intently before bursting into laughter and letting his grip on his brother go.

“Don’t worry, Percy, I didn’t tell Father anything. I’m happy for you! You’re always so stuck up and stiff, maybe a girl could help you! I’m just mad you didn’t tell me about her is all. I could’ve helped you slip out of the castle. What’s that look for? You think I never did it before?”, he smiled.

Percy’s throat unclenched as relief flooded his senses. So Julius didn’t know the whole truth at least. He chuckled and looked sheepishly to Julius.

“Yeah… Sorry I didn’t know how you would react, especially since you’re coming to be the top wolf in the castle”, Julius shrugged off the comment.

“If you have an interclass affair, I don’t think it would be so staggering as it could be. You’re not the heir, no pressure on you to keep the bloodline purely noble and whatnot”, he looked to the window and walked up to lean on the wall by it. “So.. What is she like?”

Oh no. He wasn’t ready for that part of brother bonding yet. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “Maybe another time, Julius. I wasn’t lying when I said I was tired”

Julius nodded and walked to the door, clapping Percy on the shoulder as he passed by. “We’ll talk later then, get some rest”. The door barely made a sound as it closed behind him. Percy waited in silence for a moment, quietly listening to the distant footsteps getting smaller and smaller. Eventually, Percy’s whole being deflated and he let out a massive breath of air, clutching his heart. He crashed on his bed and took a few minutes to calm down.

So much stuff had happened in just a few hours. He got the confirmation that he wasn’t in fact insane, he met in flesh and bone the woman he’d dreamed off for years, and he now had the support so far of two of his beloved siblings. And something in the back of his mind told him things were yet to come. He slipped into bed and closed his eyes, a smile illuminating his face as he drift into sleep, and into another life.

A journey back to the capital. A meeting with Emperor Uriel discussing the vampiric affairs that had taken place in Whitestone. The revelation of Riskel Daxio as the traitor he was. A reunion of musicians, and a deal. A tense exchange between Vox Machina and the Clasp. Battle, and victory. Grog bashing heads, Scanlan and his bombastic nature, Keyleth’s friendly nature, Vax sneaking his way away from his past, and of course Vex charming her way through his heart.

He awoke a few minutes before the knock on his door alerting him of the breakfast. He got out of bed and prepared himself for the day ahead; the smile he went to bed with the night before growing with the pleasant memory of his dream. He passed the hallways, saluting the people he knew, and entered the dining hall late… of course. Mother gave him the usual disapproving glance as he sat next to Julius and Whitney. It didn’t take long before the latter of the two realized his silent happy mood.

“Did anyone dream of anything last night?”, she asked no one in particular, looking innocently in her plate as she cut her potato in tiny pieces. Glances started to make their way towards Percy, who was ignoring his sister’s comment. After a moment where no one answered, she picked up again, “I dreamt of Vesper’s future family. They were all adorable don’t worry,” she added to Vesper’s raised eyebrow. “But it did made me wonder what someone would consider a perfect family, or at least a desired one. Thoughts, Percy?”

He turned to her, trying to signal her wordlessly that now was not the time, “That question is pretty subjective; it would vary widely from one person to another so I can’t say I could answer it fully in the short time one is allowed for breakfast, Whitney”

“Especially when one’s time is cut even shorter by their constant late arrivals”, cut in Lady Johanna in a light tone. A few giggles echoed in the room.

“Yes, Mother”, mumbled Percy.

“Then why don’t you talk about what you dreamed about then? Such a vivid mind as yourself, you must have dreamed about something interesting”, continued Whitney. Did she _want_ him to get in trouble again?

“I’ll have to disappoint you then. I dreamt of horses, galloping across the continent carrying various relics on their backs. The scenery was nice, I guess. Come find me _later_ and I might give you the details you seem to crave so much”, he ate quickly: placing food in his mouth gave him an excuse not to talk. Whitney gave up on her teasing after that, contempt enough as it was apparently. She decided to turn to Cassandra instead.

“What about you Cassie? Dreamt of a pretty boy?”, a moment of silence. “Cassie? Caaaaaasaaaandra?”. Percy turned to look as Cassandra seemed to just realized she was being addressed to.

“I’m sorry?”, she looked pale, Percy thought, paler than usual at least. Whitney realized it too apparently.

“You okay, Cass?”

“Yeah I’m fine, why do you ask? I’m just a bit tired is all”, she quickly glanced at Percy before turning to her plate and adopting Percy’s logic of eating equals not talking.

“It’s because you slept as much as you usually do”, commented Lord de Rolo for the first time since Percy sat down. He was looking to paperwork next to his plate. “When you train during the day you need to plan on sleeping more during the night. This isn’t the first time I told you this, Cassandra.”

“Yes, Father”, she answered softly, head bent obediently.

The rest of the breakfast went by quietly with the usual small talk filling the bits of silence. Percy would glance occasionally to Cassandra to check up on her and would find her giving him a worried look before quickly adverting her gaze from his. He mentally noted her behaviour and decided to talk to her sometime during the day. The night before still fresh in his mind, he would also look to Julius, sitting by his side. However, he found his brother cold and indifferent, barely addressing a word to anyone at the table. Abandoning any chance at interaction, he decided to start thinking of a reason to excuse himself from the dinner table tonight to return to Vex’halia (…and hopeful her brother as well).

Unfortunately, Percival found it impossible to talk to Cassandra during the course of the day. She didn’t even join Whitney and Oliver when they assaulted him in his workshop for the retelling of his dream. Horse riding and lessons took up the rest of his day until it almost came time to leave the castle. Since he was now familiar with the tunnels and the path to the Sleeping Wolf, he didn’t feel urged to leave earlier than necessary so he decided to at least attend the beginning of the dinner before leaving like the terrible son he was. Little did he know that the gods were apparently smiling down on him that evening.

Chaotic shouting reached his ear before he even entered the room. Even once he did, the situation didn’t make any more sense than when he was in the hallway. Vesper was hurling potatoes in Ludwig and Oliver’s direction furiously, aided by cheers and encouragements from Whitney and Cassandra, hiding behind their respective chairs. Julius was trying in vain to calm down his siblings while trying to shield their mother with his body from any random projectile that may come her way. He’d apparently already stopped some purée based on the slowly trickling mashed food on his vest. Their father was no where to be found.

“You’ll pay for that!”, screamed Vesper and taking a handful of carrots now that she was apparently out of potato-projectiles.

“Don’t worry I’m sure one of your books will help with the boredom!”, replied Oliver while jumping out of the way of the incoming carrots.

“Yeah! See not so bad! I’m sure there’s one in the library called ‘Masturbation 101’!”, laughed Ludwig at the end of the table, gripping the sides and ready to make a sprint for it.

“LUDWIG!”, screamed simultaneously Julius and Mother at the other end.

“Pelor knows you’ve used it yourself before, Ludwig!”, cackled Whitney.

“WHITNEY!!!”, screamed Julius and Mother in shock.

“Come here you walking shit!”, threatened Vesper, taking one of the now-empty pots from the table and making a dash for Ludwig. Before he could get far however, Cassandra took one of the surviving potatoes and hurled it at Ludwig’s head, hitting him square on the temple and sending him sprawling to the floor. It gave just enough time for Vesper to plant herself on top on him, blocking any possible exits, as she raised the metal pot above her head to bring her fury down upon their brother.

Now, Percy adored Vesper, and he also knew that Ludwig probably deserved whatever was coming for him, but he wasn’t about to let her kill him either. He rushed over to the pair and quickly ripped the pot away from Vesper’s hands. She turned to him with shock and rage while Ludwig opened one of his eyes to look at him with immeasurable thanks. Julius took the opportunity to run over and lift Vesper to her feet and keep her at bay from the smirking Ludwig. Julius gave him a warning look and he dropped the smile.

“Oh by the gods”, whispered Johanna at the mess. She turned to Whitney, “Go fetch the servants to clean this up. And you two”, she turned to Oliver and Ludwig, “In my office at this instant and wait for me there”. They both nodded and quickly left the room, happy to escape from their sister’s slowly calming fury. She walked over to Vesper, carefully stepping over the battle debris, and whispered something in her ear that made her demeanour dropped into sudden sadness and disgust. She nodded and left the room as well. Lady de Rolo finally turned to the last remaining de Rolo children with a sigh and gave them all a thankful nod, “Dinner is dismissed, the servants will bring each of you something to eat at some point in the evening. You’re free to do as you’d like”

The three of them nodded respectfully and left the room to its disastrous shape. Before they parted ways, Percy stopped and turned to his siblings with a look of disbelief, “What in the Nine Hells happened in there?”. The two looked to each other before Julius sighed and looked pitifully at him.

“Father is currently in a meeting with a certain southern lord, one from Westrun. Apparently he found a way to better the trade market between our two cities: marriage. I’m guessing you’re smart enough to know where this is going”, Percy grimaced in response. Poor Vesper, they all knew it was a possibility but he imagined that dealing with the news can’t be easy at first, especially with devils like Oliver and Ludwig. He nodded in thanks and started to make his way to his room.

“What will you be doing for the rest of the evening?”, called Julius behind him. He bore a smile that didn’t seem to quite reach his eyes. “Will you be going to the forest again?”. Cassandra frowned confused at Julius before turning to Percy as if he would answer her. He smiled mysteriously and winked at Julius before continuing on his way.

He had given the clothes back to the servant he’d taken them from earlier in between lessons so he had to put on something of his own this time. He opted for a simple sleeping cotton shirt with pants he’d taken from Oliver’s room. His brother might be younger than him but he certainly wasn’t skinnier, so the pants would be slightly too big for him. His heart started to flutter at the thought of seeing Vex’halia again. He avoided the servants and he quickly found the entrance once more. A boring tapestry, neither beautiful nor ugly, illustrating a family of deers looking over a mountain cliff. Nothing could hint at the small wooden trap door lying beneath. Smiling widely, he moved over the heavy fabrics and slipped into the dark hallway beyond, lighting the lantern left on the floor before trekking in the tunnel once more.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________

The tapestry slipped back into place as the wooden door could be heard closing with a small ‘thud’. A moment of silence followed as two breaths were held to withhold their presence. After the tension passed, the two exhales released at once and two figures stepped into the light. Cassandra walked immediately to the hidden door and opened it quietly. A subdued light to the right, far down the passage told her that her brother was heading to the east of the city, as compared to the left that lead to the west. She closed it, careful of every movement she made, and spun around to face Julius, watching the halls for any wanderers. A feeling of guilt over-washed her but she swallowed it down, trying not to let her emotions show too much.

“He’s heading to the east side. What do we do now?”, her voice was controlled enough, but Julius was always good at reading emotions so she wouldn’t congratulate herself yet.

“Nothing. If I remember correctly that passageway as more than one exit, so there’s no telling where he’ll end up. What we _can_ do is search his room, for anything that might give away what’s actually going on”, Julius scoffed at the floor. “The day Percival is secretly visiting a girl is the day trees start talking”, he turned to Cassandra and observed her face. “You’re not satisfied. What do you want to do then?”

She thought for a moment before shrugging. “You go and search his room. I think I’ll go comfort Vesper or ask Whitney some questions about Percy’s dream last night. She might also know something, we might be lucky”. Julius nodded in understanding.

“Let’s do that then. I’ll tell you if I find anything”, he watched her for a moment longer before walking forward and kissing the top of her head and taking her face into his hands. “You’re doing the right thing. It’s for his own good”

Cassandra stared back into his eyes, swallowed, and nodded slowly. He kissed her again before leaving her in the hallway. She waited before his steps were barely echoing down the stairs to turn around to the tapestry. She didn’t stop to rethink her decision; she opened the trapdoor and slipped into the darkness. Now that the oil lamp was taken she would travel without light, but she was familiar enough with the tunnels that the faraway flicker would be guidance enough.

She wasn’t one to stand by and watch. Her brother was heading directly where they wanted, and she knew it was within her abilities to spy on him without being spotted. She had an evening off, so why not?


	6. Queries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry guys, I've been pretty distracted lately. Thank you to all of you who still read my story!

**_A few hours earlier…_ **

Keyleth was sleeping soundly in their makeshift camp, a light snore the only human noise reaching their ears. It was well into the night but neither of the twins found themselves capable of sleep. Vex’halia constantly shifted in place while Vax was struggling to keep guard and not get too distracted by their current situation. This was the second shift of the night; the first one with Vex keeping an eye out while her brother pretended to sleep…

The fire was barely kept alive at that point, and Vex knew that the sun would poke its head out within the few coming hours. It was pointless. She’ll never find sleep, not tonight. She abruptly raised from her position to instead sit and remain staring at the flames. Her brother didn’t react, didn’t even look in her direction, focusing instead on warming his hands by rubbing them against each other. Vex looked out to the horizon in the direction she knew Whitestone Castle rested and she let her mind wander for the umpteenth time since that fateful meeting in those cold stone walls. Was he asleep right now? Did he have a better hold on his thoughts than she did, enough willpower to silent his mind into submission for the night? Or was he pacing the floors, fingers itching to hold her hand again and hungry eyes wanted to see more of her like she was currently yearning for? She sighed and rested her chin in a gloved palm. Was he a romantic like her? Did he ever long companionship beyond the noble surroundings? _She_ certainly felt exhausted from being alone with no one but her brother and Trinket all day.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea”, Vax’s sharp tone cut through her reverie. She looked up to him, sitting on a log on the opposite side of the campfire and his dark eyes clouded in the seriousness he liked to adopt when trying to tame her wild ideas. She chuckled under her breath and returned her gaze to the tiny flames.

“Well I’m going, and we both know you won’t let me go in that city alone. Unless you’d like to prove he wrong on the matter…”, she could feel his stare harden and she didn’t dare look back up. “Maybe Keyleth’s presence will be enough to appease your paranoid mind—”

“No way I’m letting either of you out of my sight”, he huffed. He turned his gaze back to the surrounding woods and crossed his arms so his hands could rest under his armpits. “I don’t trust that de Rolo boy is all”

“And here I thought Keyleth had managed to quieten down your suspicions of him. She basically praises him and I, your own sister, am telling you right now that he’s as dangerous as a canary bird and you won’t even believe me!”, his form shrunk slightly as he mumbled some defences she didn’t listen to. For a moment she thought he’d keep silent but his voice broke the silence not long after the thought crossed her mind.

“Did you ever think about magic, uh? He’s saying he’s dreamt of you and Keyleth and me and shortly afterwards you start having visions as well? Don’t you find that suspicious in the least?”, she sighed in response.

“Well according to my extensive research on him through servants and the rest, there hasn’t been an arcane practitioner in that family for over seven generations and Percy’s never been involved with anything of the sort”, his nose squished in disgust at the nickname.

“Well, something you might’ve forgotten, _sister_ , is that I did the research on the castle activity before our fantastic heist. I learned then that the second son, by the name Percival, wouldn’t be an issue because he spends most of his days, sometimes even into his nights, locked up in either his bedroom or his workshop in the lower subterranean floors”, she opened her mouth to speak but he cut her short by raising a finger to wait. “Now, I understand that tinkering might be a passion but I’ve also heard of many, _many_ tales about young sheltered nobles with nothing better to do than to entertain themselves with something intriguing like girls, sneaking out, or, you guessed it, dark magic”, he was back to staring intensely into her eyes, making sure his point came across through her thick skull. “So tell me, I have a ‘workshop’ where I’m almost assured no one will come to bother me, I’m bored and sheltered, and I’ve just seen a beautiful woman steal from my homestead. Maybe she left a long dark hair or two in her struggle against me on my pristine carpet floor, white if I remember correctly. Now I won’t claim to know much about magic but I’m also certain that a piece of the victim’s person is essential in about 90 percent of that target stuff magic”

Vex’halia shook her head and stared back in the horizon, “You’re being ridiculous, brother. This is all ve—”

“Did you have the dreams before coming to Whitestone?”, he stood up and went to sit beside her. “Did you have any thoughts at all about that de Rolo boy before the heist?”

She opened her mouth to defend her view but suddenly closed it. _No_. The dreams started a night or two afterwards. She frowned and looked down in her lap in thought. Her first dreams had been vague at first, only of her and Percy, before developing and becoming more detailed. She had always assume he’d found his way into her dreams because he was a handsome, rich, noble young man, so it’d made sense. New adventures beyond simply stealing had also populated her mind before… But then—

“But then how do you explain Keyleth? She also claimed to have the dreams and she doesn’t strike me as bad stuff”

“But did you ever dream of her as well? It seemed to me like you hadn’t include her in your narrative”, his demeanour was more relaxed now though his expression and tone was still severe. She reflected on the question and found that she couldn’t muster up any memory of Keyleth, nothing as definite as what she had experienced with Percy and Vax at least.

“No… No I haven’t…”, she was seriously starting to doubt herself now, and she didn’t like it. She’d like the idea of this strange new aspect of her life, of a possibility of a new friendship. But what Vax was saying made sense, and it was frightening. She’d always credited herself with having a strong spirit, but if this were true, that her mind was being tempered with…

“As far as we know, she might be also be on it. An assistant or helper to his magic practices come to spy on us or manipulate us from behind while we’re focusing our defences on him solely”

“But why?”, her voiced ringed louder than she’d expect, a slight tremor accompanying it. A moment of silence as Vex calmed her beating heart. “Why?”, this time lower, softer.

Vax shrugged, “Maybe as a way to entertain himself while dealing revenge for stealing from the castle…”. His voice trailed off as he took in her body language, her emotions obviously reflecting her distraught. He brought her into a close hug. “I’m sorry, Vex, but you know me. I’m a pessimist that has a hard time believing in a good thing when it’s staring me right in the face”. Vex remained holding on to his torso, trying to find solace in the fact that these were only speculations from her over-protective brother. “He might be a perfectly okay guy… But we’ve been screwed by magic before and I’m not ready to go through that again”. Vex’halia sighed and wrapped her arms around her brother.

“It just all seems too good to be real…”, she said in a weak voice.

She let herself be swayed gently from side to side, closing her eyes and focusing her hearing on the tempo of Vax’s regular heartbeat. As her emotions calmed and her mind stopped its wild jog, she felt her whole body relax and her eyelids start to weigh down. She mumbled something inaudible about going to sleep but her brother released her from his grasp nonetheless before standing to go back to his initial seat. Unconsciousness wasn’t hard to find this time and her mind slipped into darkness soon enough. A feeling of warmth wrapped itself around her mind and heart as she felt her body move to its own accord, and her eyes opened to find herself in a large banquet area, a bright-smile Percival sharing a meal with her by her side. A _white_ haired Percy. Alongside them were many other individuals whom, for some reason, she instantly recognized and felt compassion towards, one of which was Keyleth energetically talking to a short blond woman in front of her.

Magic or not, Vex’halia was willing to let herself slip once more into oblivion for the time being.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________

When she awoke a few hours later, Vex’halia was surprised to find Keyleth preparing something over a reborn fire while her brother was laid down next to his log from the night before. Her hair was messy with a few twigs and grasses from the soil and her face had streaks of dirt running across it, but her face was radiating with happiness. When she shifted in her bedroll, Keyleth’s head popped up almost comically and she smiled brightly to her.

“Rise and shine!”, Vex grunted a ‘…morning’ and proceeded to take a seating position. “You know, you have a very stubborn brother, he refused to let me stand watch alone while you were sleeping”

 _I wonder why…_ she thought. “Don’t take it personally, sweetie”, she yawned. “Whatcha doing?”

“Breakfast, I hope you don’t mind. I found some roots and berries and took one of your brother’s ration sacks”, she raised her pot to show Vex. The three ingredients were all mixed together and created a nice perfume and it looked pretty good. Keyleth watched her face for approval but before Vex could comment her stomach did it for her, answering with a rather loud growl. The two woman laughed and prepared two plates for one another. It was delicious, best breakfast Vex had in a while. Vax was still sleeping soundly, undisturbed even by the not-so-quiet clacking of plates and utensils.

“How did you even get him to go to sleep anyway?”, Vex asked between two bites.

“I started arguing that he wouldn’t be able to ‘protect’ us tonight if he was sleep deprived. Of course, that didn’t work at first but after enough repetition it seemed to sink in”, she looked over to Vax’s sleeping form. “We agreed that I’d wake him up after three hours, though I’m debating whether or not to let him sleep a little more than that”

“Oh, definitely let him sleep. He needs it more than he lets on”, her brother had a saviour complex, which usually resulted in lack of sleep amongst other unwanted conditions.

“Yeah… I’m just sad to see him look so stressed and unsure”, Vex looked back to Keyleth, still watching her brother with a sad look. “The Vax I’d come to know was always so confident, sometimes overtly, but we’d at least shared a few happy smiles”, Keyleth turned to face Vex again. “I don’t think he trusts me just yet”

There’s no way she could be malicious. There was too much sincerity in her eyes, too much concern.

“I haven’t dreamt much about you, Keyleth. To be honest, tonight was the first night. But for some reason, I know deep within me that the dream-me would trust the dream-you with her life. I’m not saying that I’m ready to go as far just yet, but I have no doubt that it would come to it one day”, Keyleth smiled sadly, her cheeks darken slightly. “My brother, for some unknown reason to me, hasn’t dreamed like we have. To his eyes, you’re a stranger claiming to know him and his sister personally; he can’t help but be extra suspicious, it’s in his nature. I’d say give him time”, Vex extended an arm and gave a comforting squeeze to her hand.

“Thank you, Vex… It means so much to me”, Keyleth scoot over and gave her a hug. They separated and continued to finish their meals in comfortable silence. As long as she wasn’t directly harmful to her or her brother, Vex’halia was ready to trust Keyleth.

Four hours or so later, the two women were discussing amongst themselves about the wildlife of the forest while Trinket rolled around for attention. It was rounding early afternoon, and they were waiting for Vax to wake up before deciding on anything yet. Keyleth was quite the talker, so time went by pretty fast; she’d been alone for a few months now and having company must help, and Vex didn’t mind. In the middle of one of her rants about the benefits of introducing more nuts into a farmer’s daily diet, she was cut short by a sudden outburst.

“Keyleth, watch out!”, screamed Vax as he stood up. The two women screamed in response; Vex reaching for her dagger to her side while Keyleth extended her hands defensively in front of her. A long, awkward pause followed as no danger appeared immediately and Vax proceeded to just shift uncomfortably. Vex, realizing the situation, laughed and put her weapon away.

“Slept well, brother?”, she approached him with a wide grin before crouching down and pouting. “Did you have a nightmare?”, the grin returned and she leaned over to whisper. “Or a _nice_ dream about a certain someone?”.

She expected a quick retort or defensive comment on his part, but her brother simply looked past her with a dumbfounded expression. She frown and looked over her shoulder to see what was intriguing her brother so much but only saw Keyleth, still looking around to the trees in search for any threat. He raised from the ground and walked slowly to the druid, who only noticed him once he was within five feet of her.

“Vax? Is there a problem?”, Keyleth asked, concern immediately overtaking her expression.

He didn’t answer her, simply extended a hand towards her cheek as if to cup it but dropping it instead to rest on her shoulder at the last second, not meeting her gaze and preferring to take her whole person in view as if for the first time. Eventually, his eyes met hers and he let out a small chuckle. “I remember you…”

Keyleth’s eyes went wide and a large smile quickly formed. “You do?”, she asked with hope.

He nodded with his own small smile, the look of disbelief still present. His gaze momentarily looked down to her lips before he seemed to shake himself and he took a step back abruptly, almost bumping into Vex’halia as he did. He went to apologise but the words died in his throat when he met her amused look.

“Don’t”, he said in a low voice. She smiled wider.

“Could this be considered an ‘I told you so’?”, he grunted in response.


	7. Lull

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm not dead! 2016 failed to kill me, but it came pretty close... Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter and happy 2017!

The atmosphere within the Sleeping Wolf tavern was everything but drowsy, as the title might have inclined. There were much more clients going about the various tables than there had been during his last visit. One corner of the establishment, and it seemed the upper floor as well, was occupied by happy and celebrating tough-looking men. Most of them were clean and in various conditions of soberness, but from their jargon and the general attitude they projected they were most likely from the mines. But Percy didn’t care much for them; he knew exactly where the table he was interested in was located. The plan had been for Vex’halia to interrogate her brother on the subject matter and hopefully bring him along tonight, so Percy was slightly confused when he noticed a third person seating at the table alongside the twins. Slim with messy red hair that fell down her back, antlers jutting from her head from a elegant silver headpiece, and with beautiful leaves and flowers lining her clothing and hair; she definitely stood out from the rest of the crowd with her bright colours and slightly tanned skin. It took less than a second for Percival to recognized her.

Vex, who’d most likely been keeping a close eye on the door of the establishment, immediately lit up when he crossed the threshold. The other two members, seeing her reaction, simultaneously turned to face the newcomer. Vax’ildan looked exactly like Percy would’ve expected: with similar long dark hair to his sister, though his was less wild, framing his pale face, dark brown eyes as piercing as the daggers he must be carrying at the belt… He stood a little straighter as Percy approached and his face harden.

Before he could continue his examination however, two frail arms crashed themselves around his shoulders and squeezed with unimaginable strength.

“Unbelievable! It really is you Percy! This is incredible!”, he looked down in amusement and disbelief at the young woman holding on to him. Keyleth: forever the bubbly and happy one. He felt a wave of warmth build within him as he took in her face. He’d always felt close to the druid and seeing her here, touching her and knowing that it wasn’t a dream, it was moving to him. She removed herself and smiled widely up to him. She looked dirty, even if her general presence was glowing, radiating. Percy’s expression turned confused for a moment. Wait, why was she dirty? And while he was at it, since when had Keyleth been in Whitestone? Keyleth’s own face turned more serious as she examined Percy’s reaction, and she slowly backed away.

“You do recognize me, Percy, don’t you?”, her tone was both hopeful and sad. “Vex’halia said you would…”

He shook his head and smiled as widely as he could to reassure her, “How could I _not_ recognise you, Keyleth?”. His tone was soft and his smile became more genuine as her own returned. He brought her in another quick hug, “As beautiful as in my dreams”. She giggled in his arms.

A clearing of throat from the table brought them back to reality. They let go of each other and Percy quickly nodded in salutation to Vax’ildan, who seemed to be eyeing him even harder now than before. Vex’halia was patiently waiting arms-crossed for the duo to be done, she smirked at Percival when he finally faced her.

“Glad you could join us, Percy. As you can see I am so efficient that I was able to bring not only one but _two_ people!”

He smirked back in response. “Did I ever gave the impression that I doubted you?”, he received a wink in response, though it was cut short by a perhaps over-protective brother. Vax’ildan had approached without Percy noticing and the rogue grabbed onto one of his forearm, squeezing slightly but not to the point where it would hurt.

“Alright, I’m not too keen on whatever the hells it is you’ve gotten us into, de Rolo”, his face was close and his voice harsh. “But if I find anything you do in the least bit suspicious to be dangerous to my sister, we are gone before you finish uttering half of your stupidly long name”, Percy simply smiled and nodded, unfazed by the half elf’s attitude. Vax let go and Percy turned back to the druid.

“How have you arrived here anyway?”, he straightened his composure, ignoring Vax’s gaze. He rested his hands on one chair and waited until the majority of the others sat down before sitting down himself. “And how did you find the twins?”

Keyleth, now with an unfaltering look of excitement in her eyes, smiled widely and leaned forward towards him, “Through the Sun Tree”. She paused and studied him, waiting for a reaction. Percy frown in confusion. Through the… What?

“H… How? It’s just an old tree”, as far as he could remember there’d been no supernatural events attached to the tree besides its association with the local god. But it didn’t feel like Keyleth to commune with the gods she despised.

“I dreamed of this place, Percy. I dreamed of you and you guys and the others. And once, during my dreams, I remember feeling connected to the tree. Touching its surface and feeling a life presence.”, she closed her eyes and raised one hand in the air as if trying to reconnect with that feeling. She reopened them and dropped the hand to lean even closer, “I decided to give it a shot. I walked to a tree and touched its trunk and thought real hard about the Sun Tree. And then suddenly: whoosh! The trunk separated in half to reveal a pathway beyond. I didn’t think twice before stepping through… And here I am! I… might’ve stumbled upon Vax shortly after”

“I don’t remember seeing you use a spell like that before”, Percival said excitedly. He’d been nervous to finally meet Vax in person but seeing Keyleth washed away his fears completely. During her tale, he tried to remain attentive to Vax’s personae but he too seemed enthralled by the young druid’s happiness.

“It’s weird though”, he turned his gaze back to Keyleth. “In my dreams your hair is white, almost as pale as the snow in the mountains. Not brown like here”

“It’s because in the dreams his heart is as cold as snow”, cut in Vex’halia with a smirk, leaning back in her chair nonchalantly. “It managed to seep in and affect his hair”

Percy gave her a distressed look and raised a hand to his heart, “Oh Vex’halia, am I that bad?”. Both girls laughed softly at his antics. Vax remained silent. Now that the attention had been shifted to Percy the harden look from before had returned.

“What about you, Vax’ildan?”, Vax’s jaw clenched visibly at the multiple eyes now on him. “I now know for a fact that Keyleth, your sister, and I all share the same dreams, but I haven’t heard anything on your part”

Vax smiled at him but it didn’t reach his eyes, “Well, I’m sure you’ll be excited to know that I dreamt, for the first time actually, last night. Quite the adventure. I don’t remember much of you, though”. Percy knew that was aimed to be insulting but he decided not to acknowledge it.

“That actually doesn’t surprise me”, he shrugged. “When I first started dreaming they mostly felt foggy, like a filter that only allowed me to see silhouettes. I could understand the meaning of sentences and not the individual words themselves”

“Same here”, added Keyleth. Noticing the tension between the two man must’ve brought her giddiness down a notch though a small smile remained. “I remember barely understanding Scanlan or Grog but clearly seeing Percy and Tiberius”

“Maybe it goes with how attached or close we are to specific individuals”, hypothesised Vex, meeting eyes with Percy.

He nodded in acknowledgement. It felt otherworldly to be sitting here with these three people. He still wasn’t over the fact that Vex’halia was real, flesh and bones before him. He was biting his tongue hard not to ask her who she saw first. Probably her brother if he was being realistic. Instead, he turned to Keyleth sitting besides him.

“When did you start dreaming, Keyleth?”, she seemed the most comfortable with the situation so he guessed it had been a while, like him.

“Slightly less than two years: a few months after setting off on my Ara’mente”

“Like me. About two years”, he turned to the twins. “But less than a week for you two”

Though Vex’halia had dropped the smirk, her eyes still hinted at amusement. “Perhaps it has to do with Whitestone? We must’ve been gathered here, in this city, for _some_ reason”

“You really think a greater force is to blame of this?”, questioned Vax. Keyleth shook her head.

“It can’t be Whitestone. My dreams arrived before I even knew of this city’s existence. In reality and in dream”

“As far as we know, Keyleth, you’re the outlier to any solution to this puzzle”, Percy was now leaning in his hands, elbows on the table top. “I was in the city my whole life so my situation doesn’t add anything valuable to us. The twins however, both start having dreams within a week of interacting first hand with the city. This _is_ your first journey here, correct?”

Both twins nodded in agreement. “We’d already been staying a few days in the city before… meeting you, but our sleep was as usual before then”, said Vex.

“Maybe interaction with each other then?”, added Vax. “With people from Vox Machina?”. He appeared more relaxed now, with his attention less aggressively aimed to Percy but opened to the enigma facing their group. He paused slightly before adding, almost to himself, “My dreams didn’t start until Keyleth showed up”. Percy noted the small smile resurfacing on Vex’s face.

“But then why didn’t you two dream beforehand? You’ve literally know each other since day one and haven’t dreamt before”, said Keyleth.

“And I dreamt of Vox Machina for years before knowing any of you”, included Percy. He felt like a character in one mystery books of the castle’s library, trying to solve a case from witness accounts alone. He laughed softly to himself. Oh how he was enjoying this!

“But we can’t deny that interaction with each other helped whatever connection we have”, proposed Vex.

“Can I get you anything to eat. To drink?”

All focused on the conversation at hand, they’d failed to notice a young woman approach. Dirty blond pin-up hair and with freckles covering her face, an apron surrounding her thin waist. Percy recovered from the surprise first. He cleared his throat and smiled charmingly to the waitress.

“Yes, please. Some boar to share amongst everyone and perhaps four meads as well. Unless you’d like some water, Keyleth?”

“Mead is alright, thank you”, Percy nodded and smiled to the woman as she walked away. The four of them stayed in silence for a while, unsure whether to change subject or continue on with their previous conversation. Surprisingly, Vax was the one to break the silence.

“Mead, really? I thought Sir de Rolo would’ve ordered some wine to celebrate such reunion amongst friends”, there was humour in his tone that made Percy smile in turn.

“There’s still time to change the order if noble Vax’ildan wishes it so, though I would think you’re not the less-inclined to alcohol if your dream-self is anything to go by”, Vax frowned curiously.

“Really? I don’t drink that much usually”, he turned to Vex for support but she just shrugged in response. Percy wondered how different their real-self were from the image they actually had of each other. It was tempting to think that the person sitting next to him was identical to that same someone of his dreams, but he understood the fallacy in that way of thinking. For a moment, a terrifying idea formed in Percy’s mind but he forced it away. What if this Vex’halia was simply too different from the one he’d become infatuated with?

“So Percy has brown hair and is nicer, while Vax doesn’t drink as much. Good to know”, joked Keyleth.

“I guess the tragedies that plagued our dream-selves don’t reflect on our here-selves”, said Percy. He heard Vax grunt in response. He paused in thought before turning to Vex, “Where’s Trinket? He isn’t waiting outside the tavern, is he?”

“Probably crying for his mother to come back to the campsite”, Vax smiled and turned to his sister whose guilt was already plastered on her face. “Such a cruel, cruel woman”

Vex clawed at her heart and made a small wailing sound, “Oh, Trinket!”. Percival couldn’t help a small smile; maybe not that different after all. She turned a hard gaze to her brother, “I wanted to bring him here. You’re the cruel one!”

“Don’t worry, Vex. I’m sure he’s fine”, Keyleth extended a hand to Vex and patted it soothingly. She sent a hard glare to Vax but it only made his grin wider.

The food and drinks arrived shortly after, and by the speed with which his three companions were devouring their plate, Percy guessed that this was one of the only ‘real’ meal they’d had for some time. He was about to ask them where they were currently staying within the city when the clues clicked in his mind. Their hunger, Keyleth’s dirty appearance, Trinket at a “campsite”. He also suddenly remembered a small detail that his joy had blinded him to: the bounty probably still on their heads…

“You’re staying in the mountains, aren’t you?”, he asked in a low voice to no one in particular. The twins exchanged glances before Vex swiped her mouth to speak.

“Yes, it would be hard to stay in a tavern when wanted poster are hanging on the walls”, she said, eyes focused on her plate. Percy felt his throat tightened.

“I guess that’s partially my fault. I hope I can make it up to you”, he searched for her eyes and soon enough she lifted her gaze to meet his. He held it for a moment longer before breaking it and clearing his throat again, like he always does when trying to change subject or shaking off a semblance of awkwardness. He didn’t know how to act around Vex, especially when he could feel Vax’s eyes following his every movements. Their group continued on with small conversation for a while afterwards: learning about each other, talking about the exhilaration of a good fight, etc. They also relived their dream of the previous night as they laughed at the memory of Scanlan’s duet with the young gnomish flutist and recounted with awe the confrontation with Daxio. Keyleth did most of the talking, and Percy wondered how much of it was due to her loneliness of the past few months. He himself only contributed small details of the narrative Keyleth couldn’t remember or adding a snark remark here and there. Vax’s dreams were still very much blurry so he mainly asked the questions. Vex’halia mainly laughed and observed the bond slowly forming between her brother and Keyleth, a small smile ever present on her lips.

“You know…”, he broke through Keyleth’ storytelling, his eyes casted down. “A castle is pretty big. Lots of spare rooms”, he briefly lifted his gaze to Vex, and could immediately see the interest grow in her eyes. “And it’s not unusual for us to house random guest once in a while…”. Vex and Keyleth’s eyes were glowing with excitement now, Vax didn’t look so sure. “I could arrange for some spare rooms to be prepared”

“What about the bounty, de Rolo?” asked Vax. “Are you gonna make that disappear as well?”

Percy leaned back and sipped on his drink slowly, “I could pull a few strings”. Vax scoffed something under his breath along the lines of ‘of course you could’ but he ignored him and started working through how to go about this promise. The bounty shouldn’t be too hard, they’d only been convicted for a small robbery. Keyleth shouldn’t pose too much of a problem in actually integrating amongst the nobles. Though he wondered… His mind drifted to Cassandra and Whitney. They had always placed a special attention to his stories and to the progression of the characters. Maybe he’d ought to give Keyleth a quick make over so her outfit wouldn’t sell her out too quickly. Last thing he wanted was one of his siblings accusing his guest during dinner to be someone from Percy’s dreams. He’d certainly have to give new clothes to the twins, however. Even without a bounty, they looked too… poor, for the lack of a better term. Too much like misfits. Maybe he could contact Simon at the Alcove…

The siblings had started arguing on the subject, with Vex’halia trying to assure her brother that a quick noble vacation wouldn’t hurt while her brother was mostly shaking his head and rubbing his forehead. Keyleth didn’t seem sure on anything; the idea of a room seemed to be appealing however. Feeling his curious gaze, she turned to meet his eyes. Percy leaned in and she came closer as well.

“It’ll be easier with you then with them, but I can arrange for everyone to meet up again”, he said softly. He quickly took in the dirt on her cheek and the odd twigs in her hair. “Maybe a bath and a new, less practical dress and I could introduce you as a longtime correspondence”

“You think so? I’ve never really been taught proper etiquette. I don’t think I’d fit in very well”, worry was evident in her eyes, but Percy understood where it came from.

“If etiquette’s what you’re worried about then wait until you meet my siblings”, he smiled reassuringly. She laughed softly before her eyes turned sad again.

“I’d like that very much… To meet the whole de Rolos”, he fought hard to keep his smile but he could feel it falter slightly. Right… She’d only met Cassandra. And it wasn’t on the best term… The memory always felt like a hard thug at his heart. His sweet Cass, turning against him. Part of him was glad this aspect of his life was only fictional. He didn’t think he could actually bare a betrayal like that.

“So Percy!”, the pair suddenly looked back to the twins who’d apparently stop their bickering. “When are we moving in? A day, two from now?”

Keyleth leaned back into her chair and quickly brought the drink to her lips, avoiding eye contact. He smiled at Vex, “Give me perhaps two days, I’ll have to introduce you to someone first. He’ll make the ‘infiltration’ easier and offer you a roof as well for a night. Could you meet me at noon here tomorrow?”

“Who is he?”, asked Vax. Forever the suspicious one.

“An old family friend. Runs an enchantment store in the west of town with his daughter. You’re welcome to check it out beforehand. Named ‘the Alcove’”, it seemed to work and Vax’s jaw relaxed.

By now, the sun had been set for a while and no one but them and some of the celebrators were left within the tavern. He’ll have to get back soon. He raised from his seat and fished out some gold coins from a hidden pocket within his coat. He placed them on the table and smirked at Vex’s greedy gaze eyeing the place where his pouch had just disappeared. “It should be enough to pay for the dinner”

“You’re leaving us already?”, asked Keyleth.

“I can’t escape my family forever. Soon enough one of them will realise I’m not in my workshop or my bedroom”

“Tomorrow at noon then”, said Vax’ildan. Percy nodded.

“Tomorrow at noon”, he turned to Vex who she winked at him. He had hoped to get a small moment alone with her, but it’ll have to wait until next time. He smiled back and looked down at the money. He smirked and turned back to meet her eyes. “Keep the change”

He walked away to the exit, thanking their waitress as she passed by. The cool night air felt refreshing from the stuffiness of the tavern. He allowed himself of moment to breathe in and calm down his racing heart. By Pelor, he hadn’t had this fun in his life since forever! Keyleth, Vax, Vex’halia… How would his heart survive! He laughed at himself and started for the tunnel entrance before someone called his name behind. He stopped and turned to see Vex running to him. He waited until she was by his side to talk.

“I know I’m irresistible but I’ve only been gone for barely a minute, Vex’halia”, she rolled her eyes but a small smirk betrayed her amusement.

“I forgot to ask”, her cheeks were red, whether from the cold or her short sprint he didn’t know. “Can I bring Trinket? In the castle, I mean”

He paused, unsure if it was appropriate to laugh. He chuckled, “What kind of demon would I be if I said no?”. Relief flooded over her expression. She was close to him, and the yellow light of a nearby shop illuminated her face with a beautiful warmth. “I’ll make arrangements”

Suddenly, two arms snaked around his neck and she was closer. The hug was short, she broke away almost immediately, but as usually it didn’t take much for his cheeks to glow bright red. He barely had time to think about hiding his blush before she kissed his cheek.

“Thank you, Percival. For everything”, and with that she quickly turned back to the tavern and her form disappeared back within the safety of the establishment.

“You’re welcome, Vex’halia”. He was about ready to say good bye to his heart now, the poor thing wouldn’t survive long with her around. Giddy with joy, he continue on the path to Whitestone Castle.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________

This isn’t real. This can’t be possible. It _can’t_ be real…

What sound does one’s mind make when their whole perception of reality crashed before their eyes? It must be different for everyone, and whether the change is welcomed or not. In Cassandra’s case, her mind had been calm at first, in denial. For the past ten minutes or so however, it was mostly internal screaming. A long, never-ending scream of shock, self-anger, and disbelief.

A gut feeling had told her that she would find answers by following her brother, and by the gods had she been right on the nose. She was currently sitting in the dirt, hands over her mouth to discourage her from actually screaming. The exterior wall of the Sleeping Wolf tavern the only support she had at the moment. The alleyway she was in was barely lit by the interior light pouring from the window she had been using to spy on her brother.

Vex’halia, Vex’halia, Vex’halia, Vex’halia, Vex—

The name repeated itself in her mind in a continual loop. It couldn’t be. There had to be a rational explanation to this… Cassandra slapped her face a few times. There was still the three half-elves inside, but she didn’t need to talk to them. She raised from her feet and quickly swiped herself from the dirt. She knew of a faster way to reach the castle than the pathway she’d given to Percy. Perhaps she still had enough energy to ambush him before he reached his dorms. Oh Pelor, what would Julius think of this? Was he searching Percy’s room for clues like he mentioned before? She had to hurry. Oh brother, she felt faint…


	8. Zeitgeber

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read the end notes :)

This would be the fourth time that Percival traversed this damp and dirty passageway, but every time he exited it the only emotion he felt was excitement at the thought of going through it again. The heavy fabric of the tapestry weighted nothing to him now and he remembered the hallways less traveled-by enough to only encountering one or two servants on his way back. He opened the door to his room and exhaled in the darkness. His heart was racing and a large grin spread across his face. He didn’t allow it to remain for long though as his mind started racing. If their plan was gonna work, there were many details that needed to be addressed.

He started to undress quietly, exchanging his dirty clothes for clean ones. He rinsed his head quickly and slipped into his bed, head still spinning with ideas. His main worry wasn’t the infiltration itself; he was feeling confident enough in the lay-outs and the opened possibilities to not feel too much pressure on that part. What worried him more was the wild variable that were his siblings. He wasn’t sure how much his narrative had imprinted on someone like Whitney and Cassandra, who acted fairly devoted to his dreams, and if the sudden appearance of his friends amongst the castle populace who go unnoticed. A thought passed through his mind: what about warning them, or at least one of them? Perhaps his darling Cassandra?

Percy wanted someone to share this adventure with someone, someone outside Vox Machina. He wanted an accomplice to help formulate plans and though Cassandra was the youngest of the de Rolo siblings she had a hidden cleverness in her eyes that would shine especially bright when trickery was involved. And as smart as Percy liked to think he was, the benefit of another perspective could also help him and the rest of Vox Machina to find an answer to their current riddle. Percy also half-heartedly hoped for an additional ‘unbiased’ point of view, just to ensure he truly wasn’t being played.

He looked to his window and tried to estimate what time it was. Pushing towards the late hours of the evening; Cassandra could still be awake then. He also remembered her strange behaviour at the beginning of the day, perhaps this could be a way to kill two birds with one stone. Percy quickly jumped out of bed and covered himself in one of his light coats, and quietly walked down the corridor to begin his search.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Where was she?, he asked himself, the adrenaline of the moment slowly fading away for exasperation instead. Percival wasn’t exactly sure how long he had been searching but he was pretty confident he was well passed the hour mark. He had searched her rooms, the various libraries, the training room, and all other known spaces she usually favoured. He had asked a few resident of the castle, including his sisters and Ludwig, but none seemed to know where she was. As he quickly peeked into various salons after waiting rooms, he wondered whether he should explore the woods as well when he caught sight of a figure in one of the salons. There was no light within besides that of the moon peering through the curtains, but it was just enough for Percy to recognize Julius, leaning against the wall and reading through a few pieces of papers

"Julius?", he asked, slowly making his way towards him. The man in question immediately peeked up and hid the pieces of paper in his jacket. Percy stopped in his tracks; It was rare to find his brother playing the sneaking game, if he ever played it. Percy tried to resist the small smirk crawling its way across his face.

"Percival", his voice had an underlying accusatory tone. Percy took it as his being mad at having been caught. Julius cleared his throat before talking again, this time in a much softer voice. "Can I help you with something?”

He was tempted to ask about the papers, but resisted the urge. "I'm searching for Cassandra. Have you seen her around recently?"

His brother thought for a moment before he shook his head. "I haven't seen her since dinner", his gaze turned piercing for a moment. "Why did you need her? Maybe it is something I can help you with”

"No need", he answered with a smile. "She didn't come around this morning to ask about my dream so Whitney suggested I should find and tell her about it tonight”

"She was with neither you nor Whitney?", his accusatory gaze turned puzzled. "Have you checked with Vesper already? She mentioned something before about perhaps visiting her for comfort…"

Percy shook his head, worrying scenarios starting to make their way through his thoughts. “The last Vesper remembers her was at dinner..."

“Well that is worrisome”, he looked back at the window, as if expecting her form to appear in the courtyard below. “Where could she have hidden herself this time?”

“I don’t know”, Percy joined his brother by the window to look into the peaceful setting below. Clear nights in Whitestone had a magical feel to them. Percy wondered where his friends were staying tonight: in a tavern or in the forest again? A small smile appeared on his face at the thought that soon they wouldn’t need to search for a roof anymore.

“I’ll tell you if I find or hear anything”, he said as he turned away from the window. He was almost at the door when Julius spoke again.

"Hey Percival?”, he stopped walking and turned around. “We’ve um… We’ve never really discussed your dreams you and I, have we?”. Percy frowned in thoughts. His brother would occasionally ask questions but he didn’t follow them weekly like some of their siblings.

“I never believed you interested in them”

“I was just thinking about it recently and wondering…”, he paused for a moment, licking his lower lip; it was a nervous habit he’d picked up from their father. “How could they be real? It's just... The idea of someone dreaming up an entire new reality… Well it says a lot about an individual”

What is he getting at?, he thought. Percival shrugged, “Technically speaking, writers occasionally do this sort of thing too, no?”

“Yes, that is true, but the same theory could apply to them too”, he seemed to be struggling with his words. It was a rare thing, both fascinating and unnerving at the same time. “They voluntarily created and write down a reflection of their reality that they wish to explore or express. They are exposed to many things in their daily lives but most writers limit themselves to only one aspect they believe to be important”

Was this going to be an impromptu psychology lesson?. “As fascinating as this conversation is, I’m having difficulty understanding its relevance in our situation, Julius”

“I’m simply saying, for some… Some might say that the stories you tell people are plain, enjoyable adventures of crazy warriors, and your narrative is simply the chosen perspective to tell this story of yours”

“Are you insinuating I’m making this all up?”

“But for others,” Julius said, ignoring his question. “who enjoy the study of the psyche a little more, your subconscious or conscious decision to imagine a life completely separate from the one offered to you in reality may translate into something more nefarious than you could initially envision”

Percy could hear his blood pumping in his ear, and he noticed how his hand was tempted to curl into a fist. There was something condescending, maybe even a bit menacing, in Julius’s attitude. He had been dreaming of Vox Machina for approximately two years now, and throughout those two years he had been the unfortunately member of conversations (if you could call it that) where the ‘helper’ was trying to subtly infer that he was perhaps walking the edge of dementia or psychosis, or something along those lines. He had come to recognise the signs in the person when the conversation headed in such direction; he was seeing those signs very clearly in Julius now. However, there were no niceties like he might be used to. Right now, the eyes in front of him were hard, the jaw slightly clenched. He was rubbing his hands, or rather he was rubbing a hand over the other which was curled tightly onto itself.

“I’m saying, brother, that relating the adventures you dream of, which consist mainly of a family you created and where your current one is nonexistent, may cause harmful thoughts to those who consider themselves your _real_ family”

Silence followed for a moment, where both brothers waited for a reaction from the other.

“Do you feel this way?”, Percy asked eventually. His eyes were downcast, unsure whether meeting the other’s eyes would only worsen the lump in his torso and preferring not to test it.

Another moment of silence. Percy was tempted to look up when the door behind him suddenly opened. Both brothers turned their attention to see the frantic eyes of a young servant woman, which almost immediately turn down in shame at interrupting this conversation. Out of the corner of his eye, Percy noticed Julius recomposing himself quietly.

“Is something the matter?”

“Lord de Rolo is asking for you, sir”, she said in a small voice. “Something about southern trading”

Julius exhaled quietly, looked to Percy for a second, than turned to the girl and extended an arms in the direction of the corridor. Before exiting, Julius paused at the threshold, “Get some sleep. It’s getting late and we both know you need it, little brother”. They left quietly, leaving Percy in the semi-darkness of the small salon.

As much as he tried to keep an open mind on the criticism he received, on any aspect of his life, when it came down to his dreams he was always on the defensive. The truth was that he _had_ come to considering them something of a family. And now that he knew they were real… He was protective of Vox Machina, moreso now than ever before. They might not be his ‘real’ family, like Julius had stated, but he was willing to explore this new one. He decided to abandon the search for the night and return to his quarters. Cassandra, wherever she was hiding, would have to wait for now.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________

It seemed like no one was comfortable at the breakfast table on the next morning. Lord Frederick de Rolo had barely touched his food, despite the many encouragements by his wife, and was currently absorbed with paperwork. Julius seemed distracted and on edge, barely touching food himself. Vesper, still disturbed by the news of yesterday, was pale and talked very little. The twins talked quietly amongst themselves but seemed overtly aware that no one else was talking and so discussions were short and awkward. Ludwig looked confused and simply focused on finishing his breakfast quickly to be over with it. Cassandra wasn’t even present.

Eventually, after ten minutes of near silence, Johanna spoke up with an exasperated tone. “Well, there is clearly an issue with the atmosphere this morning”, she turned to her husband. “My dear, either go to your office to work or please delight us with your attention for at least the rest of the meal”

Frederick frown at her for a second before putting down the papers and handing them to an attendant behind his seat. He shot his wife an ‘are you happy?’ look before taking a few bites from his plate. Despite himself, Percival found his father’s sudden attention to his meal encouraging and turned his attention to his barely touched plate. The same effect seemed to have touched many of his siblings. Small talk began and finished, still a tinge of uncertainty lingering in the air.

“Where’s Cassandra?”, questioned Frederick as they neared the end of the meaL He had asked no one in particular, but as the de Rolo members looked to each other he understood that none had an answer. Lady Johanna turned to a servant and silently waited for an answer.

“Mistress Cassandra did not answer her call for breakfast this morning, my lady”, answered a young servant man. “After a few minutes, the attendant tried to enter to see if the lady was simply asleep but the door had been locked”

“And you didn’t report this because…?”

“By this time breakfast was already being served, my lady. We imagined the young mistress would’ve come down by now”

“Let them be”, cut in Julius. “She was kept awake till late yesternight so she must still be asleep. And besides, nothing of true importance ever really happens at breakfast so I don't blame her for thinking it would be acceptable to miss it”. This seemed to both calm and annoy their mother, as her shoulders relaxed slightly but kept a hard face for the following minutes.

Breakfast continued without much other incidents. The clock arm moved along gradually, tipping closer and closer towards the ‘XII’. As the time for luncheon approach, he informed the staff that he would be in his workshop and that he shouldn’t be disturbed by anyone. He left some metals to heat and some chemicals to brew before locking the heavy door behind him and slipping off to the city. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too late.

The Alcove was a humble yet well-faring arcane shop run by Simon Whisk for over a decade now. Single father to his daughter Jordana, Simon had been a great help in getting Percival back to his family after the boy got lost during one of his first outings into the city. Since then he had made it a small tradition that whenever he went out he would pay his friend a visit. Generous yet nervous in nature, he hoped his friend wouldn’t scold him for getting him involved in this adventure. By the time Percival arrived at the establishment, the front door held a giant ‘CLOSED’ sign and Jordana was leaning against the building, looking through the crowd of people passing through. She was a tall girl, still in her late teens, but she had definitely inherited her father’s nervous tendencies. He caught her eye and she quickly stood up. She motioned him over and went inside without waiting for him.

As it turned out, Percival had underestimate the paranoid tendencies of his friend who had immediately recognised the twins from their ‘Wanted’ notice. Their constant insistence that they were friends of Percival was just enough to make him hesitant and not turn them in right there and then. After calming things with Simon, and promising to make up for this inconvenience, Percival and his friends congregated in the second-floor apartment where the Whisks resided. They didn’t waste any time with niceties once alone; they had a plan to prepare and a few metamorphosis to achieve.

“I still don’t understand why I can’t keep my normal clothes, it’s not like they’re anything outstanding or exotic like Red-head here”, whined Vex as she dismissed another dress that Jordana had left in a pile for her to choose from.

“You’re supposed to be a city dweller, so a leather outfit that’s been obviously used for nature trips isn’t gonna pass easily”, explained her brother. He was fidgeting with his new vest in front of the small mirror at their disposal. Red wasn’t really _his_ colour typically but the dark tone of the vest and the black undershirt would have to do until Percival could give him something else more to his tastes.

“Where are we gonna get our ‘merchandise’ from anyway, Percival? It’s not like you can find artefacts and jewellery laying in the streets these days and whatever stuff you have yourself won’t be enough”

“It’s just an act, you guys won’t need that much stuff anyway”, said Keyleth. She was currently trying to examine herself in her new, simpler dress through the window’s reflection but from her constant fidgeting Percy guessed it wasn’t an easy task. Her character hadn’t been hard to come up with: she would play the part of a long time correspondence from Westrunn who’d just now decided to explore the world. Trinket would follow her as it fitted her ‘traveler’ character more than the twins’s, to the ranger’s great disappointment.

“You could always give the excuse that you sold most of your stuff already”, Percy for his part was currently leaning on the door, trying to keep an ear for any incoming individual. “And Keyleth remember _not_ to mention the Ashari”

As an answer, she waved dismissively and muttered a small ‘yes, yes’. Keyleth, no matter what some of his companions might believe, was prideful at times but especially when it concerned her people and heritage. It was for that reason especially that Percy insisted she forget that part of herself for the time being. Any association with the Ashari would be a dead giveaway for the druid identity. She had raged when he mentioned how vulnerable keeping her headdress and her armour might make her. After reasoning with her for a few minutes, they agreed to let Keyleth keep the armour but the antlers had to go. Vax promised he’d take delicate care of it as one of their ‘goods’.

Eventually and with the help of her brother, Vex settled on a more complicated burgundy dress to match Vax’s attire and pattern. So the clothes issues was now taken care of… Percy didn’t worry too much about the twin’s abilities to fit in and integrate themselves as merchants, and Keyleth’s traveler approach wasn’t far from the truth, but he still wasn’t convinced that the threat of his siblings was completely improbable. Changing clothes wasn’t a good enough disguise in his opinion, but they were limited in resources… He looked to Keyleth who was trying rather unsuccessfully to brush through Vex’halia’s mess of a mane. It would be hard for her not to stand out in a crowd, everything about her radiated… uniqueness. He turned to the rogue after a moment.

“Vax? Would you know how easy it is to dye hair?”, the intended frowned in thought before shrugging.

“It typically depends on what the town has to offer. The materials by themselves aren’t that rare but you never know. Who did you have in mind?”

Percy looked to Keyleth and so did the gaze of the twins. After noticing the silence that befell the room, Keyleth finally looked up from trying to rid the brush of excess black hair. A look of despair washed over her face.

“You take away my antlers and now you wanna take away my hair colour too!”

“Maybe we could just give her a scarf…”, offered Vex’halia, taking the brush away from her friend and trying to brush her hair herself. “You know, like those traveling gypsies in the carts”

“So now I’m a gypsy too?”, exclaimed the druid.

“Well, between you and me, darling, the idea of a scarf would appeal to me more than a dye”

Keyleth grunted and turned to Vax. He simply raised his hands in defeat, offering no support. She grunted again and headed to the door.

“I’ll go ask for a scarf”, she muttered under her breath before closing the door behind her.

Meanwhile, they conceded to Vex simply wearing her hair upturned, but Percival insisted that she’d give up her feathers since he mentioned them in his stories. A few times, he admitted shyly. She reluctantly agreed to give him her feathers for safe-keeping, and Percival tried not to let joy take over as he discreetly fingered the blue feathers in his pocket. Vax debated whether or not to cut his hair short, and by the time Percy decided he needed to head back the half-elf was still unsure.

“Well if you cut it people might stop mistaking you for me and vice-versa”, included Vex.

“I like being compared to you though. You’re the best part of me!”, whined Vax in return.

“Don’t you think it’s too much of a drastic change though?”, added Keyleth, running her fingers the long locks and trying to imagine her friend without his typical black curtain covering his face. “It could help you look less moody…”

“Are you trying to insult me because I didn’t support you with the gypsy comparison?”

Tomorrow, Percival would come fetch Keyleth from the Alcove. The twins would follow suit in the coming days afterwards. Perhaps he could talk to one of the nobles residing at the castle to ease their transition into the noble inner circle of the castle. Usually only prosperous and fortunate merchants get invited so two unheard of street sellers might appear strange… There was still the option of talking to Cassandra and get her on board with this adventure of his. He said his farewells to the group quickly and made sure to apologies to the Whisks one last time before heading to the tunnel.

Percival would remain in his workshop for about another hour or so after coming back from the Alcove. Or so had been his plan. He barely had time to quickly sketch something in his notebook and take notes on the reaction of the chemicals he had let to sit earlier when three loud thuds on his door broke his concentration. He cocked an eyebrow and walked over to slide the eye-slot to reveal Ludwig on the other side.

“What do you want, Lud?”, his brother rarely came down to his workshop, usually to mock him or ask him for help on his homework. Today though, there was perspiration on his forehead and a wild look in his eyes. Annoyance turned to intrigue. His brother, on the other hand, laid both hands on the cold metal and let his eyes frantically search the space behind Percy.

“Is Cassandra with you?”, he asked. Percy frowned.

“No—”, Ludwig growled before kicking the door and walking away as suddenly as he’d arrived. Percy’s shock quickly faded into worry. He push open his door and ran down the hallway where Ludwig’s form was still seen pushing open doors before stomping away. Confused, Percy quickly tossed aside his gloves and rushed after his brother who was still ignoring his flood of questions.

It didn’t take long for him to get his answers though. As they emerged from the lower wing where the workshop resided, Percival felt a sharp switch in atmosphere. The calm and distant air was now filled with an intensity reflected on the faces of every being passing by. Murmurs buzzed in every corridor but Percy felt too disoriented to focus on anything in particular. He would vaguely find the large form of his younger brother and follow it, eyes still search for anyone that could clear the confusion and his mind running wildly.

A rushing servant accidentally hit Percy’s shoulder, making him lose his footing, and the young lord had to lean on a nearby threshold not to fall over. The door lead to one of the playing rooms and he was surprised to recognise his mother’s voice from within. Her following words, however, resembled nothing close to the sweet and controlled woman he knew and they turned his blood cold.

“I don’t _care_ about supper! My daughter is missing and that’s what I care about! So instead of playing about in your kitchen, do something actually worthwhile with your time and _find Cassandra de Rolo_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey this story isn't dead yet! To be honest I was having a bit of a 'crisis' with this fic and I simply didn't know where I wanted it to go. I was also dealing with some stuff and major transitions so I didn't think too much on this unfinished piece. After things calmed down I did stop and try to plan at least how I wanted it to end. So fear not! Those few devoted folks out there that are still interested will get *something* at the very least.  
> Nice reading to you all! I also wrote part of the upcoming chapter already so you won't have to wait 8 months for the continuation. Sorry again for the wait...  
> Please comment! Your small words impact the author's motivation more than you might imagine. Comment all the fics you read, those that aren't from me as well!!!


	9. Cataplexy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is folks! Shit gets real...

Nothing but darkness could be seen. A dull pain pounded continuously in the back of her head. Her tongue felt dry and heavy in her mouth. She moved a hand to her head to calm the pounding, but her arm was obstructed. Sheets. She wasn’t in her bed though; her sheets are softer, lighter. Suddenly, she heard a voice. Movement to her side and a shadow passed over her face. The voice again… Female. Mother, perhaps? She struggled to open her eyes but a hand covered them, and her mind slipped into oblivion once more.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________

“Cassandra!”  
“Lady Cassandra!”  
“Cass!”

Lantern lights and shouts had been disturbing the usual serene atmosphere of the woods for three hours now. Wild beast stirred awake and ran off, trying their best to avoid the thirty men and women pushing through the flora. Three hours of walking and fruitless searching, and they didn’t know for how many hours more they would keep going. The orders had been very simple: find the third de Rolo daughter, Lady Cassandra, dead or alive, and bring her back. The search parties spread all over the mountains consisted of a mash of servants, maids, soldiers, gardeners, stableboys, and any castle residents willing to lend a hand. Some had brought torches, others weapons in case beasts or captors offered a fight. But no fight had come yet, no clue either…

Leading the group in charge of the eastern mountain side near the mines was a young noble man, tattered brown hair sticking to his forehead and blue eyes wildly searching behind every tree, under every bush. He was still wearing his leather apron from when his younger brother had interrupted him, and the heavy fabric was starting to tire the back of his neck from the continual friction. But he refused to stop even just to take it off… His little sister, his darling Cassandra, was missing. He _couldn’t_ stop. She couldn’t have simply ran off, not without at least telling him first! Did that meant she had been kidnapped? Was she in danger? Too many questions, not enough evidence to answer any of them… His eyes felt tired and his limps were getting sloppy. He noticed the worried looks his companions sent his way but promptly ignored them all.

The night air was bitter and, as the minutes turned into hours, quickly became intolerable. Most of the men and women were wearing thin clothes under shawls or work cloaks, and none quite had the same adrenaline pushing them forward like Percival did.

“Lord Percival! Perhaps it’s time to turn back!”, he ignored the soldier and kept walking. “Please, my lord… The men and women aren’t used to the heavy terrain, and all are tired!”

Didn’t he understand? He couldn’t stop now… Maybe Cassandra was ten feet ahead, her mouth covered and limps tied by harsh ropes…

“My lord, please!”, cried one of the woman. “My son must be worried sick waiting for my return!”

‘Cry, woman’, he thought. ‘Cry like my soul at the moment… Your son isn’t the only one worried sick…’

“Will you not hear reason?”, exclaimed the soldier once more, his words harsher now.

Percival turned brusquely, surprising the man in Pale Guard armour. Reason? _Reason_? He could feel the heat take over his neck and his eyes hardened as they looked upon the man. The latter bowed his head in surrender, but Percy still perceived the clenched fists by his side. Percy surveyed the small crowd in front of him with a harsh gaze. How would they know? How could they understand? His eyes landed on the woman from earlier; she was crying silently now and shaking. His gaze soften slightly… He didn’t know her. He didn’t even know what was her occupation at the castle. Perhaps she knew… His eyes cleared from the passion that had drove him until then, like black tendrils releasing his mind and body. Fatigue suddenly washed over him. He looked down at the harden ground and thought of his own mother. She had wanted to search the forest as well. How anxious was she at the moment, knowing her daughter was out there and that she couldn’t do anything about it herself. No. Knowing her _children_ , all of them, were out there in the cold night, in the forest or in the mountain, surrounded by possible wild beasts and unknown enemies and with limited supplies…

There was a series of gasps and hurried movements from his team when his knees gave way under him. He tried to fight back his emotions, at first managing to only let out a muffled choke, but in vain… He cupped his mouth with both hands to silence himself as the tears flooded his vision and one by one connected with the dirt floor. His body felt tight and he crumbled unto himself. What a terrible sight he must have been to his search companions: a mess of tears and gurgling sounds… He vaguely understood the arm around his shoulder when the mother came to his side and whispered sweet nothings to calm him. After a moment the Pale Guard joined them, placing a gentle hand on his back.

Percy didn’t know how long he remained like that, but eventually the Pale Guard turned to the rest of the party and signalled for them to start heading back. They obliged and with muffled voices started to make them way towards the distant lights.

“You must get up too, my lord…”, whispered warmly the woman. He only managed to give a small nod, not yet trusting his voice. She stood up, letting go of his shoulder, and slowly started for the rest of the group.

Percy’s eye search the forest beyond him one last time without much hope. He bent his head down and let his forehead touch the earth, letting it soak in his final defeated tears.

“Forgive me, little sister… Please forgive your useless brother that managed to fail you once again…”

The journey back was silent and slow. He was thankful for the dreamless night.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Everything was louder this time. The distant noise of carriages and horses and soft conversations barely made their way to her ears as consciousness came to her once more. The shutters were drawn but she could still make out the tiniest ray of sunshine piercing through a crack in the wood. She suddenly became aware of nearby voices, two of them: a husky, low voice that sounded like it came from an imposing man, and a higher pitch one that spoke with a calm elegance. They sounded close, but a quick glance around the room told her the individuals weren’t present with her at the moment. It was a small room with few furniture and even fewer decorations, simple wooden things. She let out a small grunt as she tried to wrestle the bedsheets away and managed to get a leg out before entangling herself and falling off the bed, connecting with the cold floor. Her eyes closed as a loud and constant thud echoed within her head. She heard the door open and felt the strong arms lifting her back onto the bed. She let herself collapse once more on the smelly pillows, one hand cupping her head in a futile effort to dull the pain.

“We can’t let her stay here much longer”, the low voice said.

“She’s not strong enough yet”, answered the second voice. “If we bring her in in this state they’ll assume too much”

Darkness overcame Cassandra de Rolo one more time.  
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The following morning, for the first time ever, Percy wasn’t the last one to arrive at breakfast. Both Ludwig and Whitney arrived some ten minutes after him, and Vesper appeared lost in herself that she might as well not have been present at all. Father never showed either. The charged silence of the meal was only interrupted once when Lady Johanna announced that a hired team of professionals had been sent out to seek Cassandra. They all nodded in understanding and one by one left to go about their daily routines.

The day was a blur: a mess of tears, sudden fits of anger, and emotionless fazes. It wasn’t until he went back to his room around midday and caught sight of his dirty coat from the night before that he was reminded of his agreed meeting with Vox Machina. He had to go get Keyleth and bring her back to the castle… How inappropriate it seemed to him in that moment, to bring in a new friend when his sister was missing. Would she even be welcomed in at that point? A sudden spark reinvigorated his mind. Could _they_ help with the search? The twins were pretty much experts in terms of navigating both the wilderness and the layouts of a city, and he was certain Keyleth would be a useful asset to such a quest! And if they did manage to find her, and bring her back, there wouldn’t be an issue of them being accepted anymore! Hells, Percival was pretty certain his mother would be willing to throw a feast in their honour!

The young lord had one more class before he would be free for the afternoon. Once it would be done, he’d head out and inform Vox Machina of the change of plans. Two hours later, just as he was packing up his bag, three knocks echoed from his door: a servant boy, informing him that Lord de Rolo called for a ‘family meeting’. Percy was lead to one of the salons near the dining room. He had expected to see his father awaiting there but instead was met with the faces of his… remaining siblings. No parents in sight. Julius, Whitney, and Oliver were sitting down at a small coffee table where sandwiches, pastries, and tea had been served. Vesper and Ludwig were standing by the window, arguing about something but stopped as he entered.

“Finally you decided to join us,” exclaimed Julius in a tired voice and a small smile. He nodded to one of the empty seats around the table, “Take a seat.”

“Why did you call us over like this, Julius?”, asked Vesper in an annoyed yet concerned tone. _So they also don’t know_ … The eldest waited until Percy took a seat before answering her.

“I had a thought, that’s been bothering me since last night”, his speech was hesitant and he had one hand concealing most of his mouth, the other nervously fiddling with a fold in his pants. “And I just wanted to share it with those I trust the most in such business…”

“Such business, I assume, that Father and Mother would disapprove of…”, noted Oliver leaning back in his chair. Julius paused, took an inhale, and then spoke once more, this time with more resolution.

“I don’t care what Father or the rest might think or what they may have told us. Cassandra is our damn sister and _we_ are the ones who know her best of all,” he paused to let his gaze wander over each face before him. “I suspect I wasn’t the only one who noticed Cass’ strange behaviour before her disappearance, am I wrong?”

“No… You’re not wrong”, said Percy in a low voice. The others also shared their acknowledgement in hushed ‘yes’ and nods. He remembered wanting to speak to her about it, but everything was so sudden…

“She did seem a bit jumpy before she… before she left”, noted Oliver looking down into his plate.

“Anxious”, added Whitney. “Almost afraid i’d say”

“You don’t think she was being threatened, do you?”, everyone turned their gaze to Ludwig. “Without our knowing? Without _Father’s_ knowing?”

“That’s my fear…”, sighed Julius. “I wanted to know your opinions before I launch myself into something”

“You want to investigate her disappearance from within. Look at the clues from within the castle instead of out there as if only external forces were to blame”, Percy met Julius’s gaze and recognised the silent nod his brother gave him.

“How can we help?”, said Whitney and Oliver in unison. A small smile formed on their siblings’s lips at their fervour.

“I’m giving you two special permission to go through Cassandra’s room. If you find anything, _anything_ , that might shed light please bring it to me.”

“I’ll talk to her servant girls and the maids”, added Vesper.

“And I’ll go to her teachers”, said Ludwig.

They were all about to leave when Percy couldn’t hold back his snicker anymore. When he realised the attention had been turned to him, he simply shrugged his shoulders and started to pour himself a cup of tea. “You honestly think Father and Mother haven’t already interrogated the poor staff to death by now, is that what you would have me believe?”. Julius was a smart man, had this detail really escape him? When he was met with silence he looked up to Julius’s harden gaze and the sadden look of the others.

“Go and conform Mother then. She’s quite disturbed by the events and might want one of her children with her”, told Vesper. Percy shook his head.

“As much as I would love to help you and Mother, there’s somewhere I must be at the moment”, Percival stood from his seat.

“You’re not going to help us?”, Julius said, a note of accusation in his voice

He wanted to help… He _needed_ to find his Cassandra. He wasn’t ready to lose her in real life. He’ll make his way to the rendezvous point and ask for Vox Machina’s help in searching the city; four pairs of eyes were better than his alone. “Don’t worry I’ll go find help on my own terms. I really must be going”, his back was already turned, pacing fast to the door.

The slamming of a fist and the sound of cracked porcelain made him jump and stop in his tracks. He swiftly turned to the origin of the sound and it was as if something suddenly got stuck in his throat. Julius was still sitting down but his posture reminded him of a crunched wolf ready to pounce. His right fist was clenched tight in the remains of what had been his empty plate. Percival could tell he was shaking. There was a moment of stillness as the occupants of the room remained quiet and watched the stare down between the two brothers with confusion and, for some perhaps, anticipation. Eventually, after a moment that seemed to last forever, Julius rose and took gentle steps towards him.

“This is your choice then”, his voice was low, almost threatening. “Your… fantasies over your own family?”. He stopped briefly in his path, awaiting an answer. Percival’s blood ran cold at what his elder might be referring to but…

“What are you talking about?”, Percival asked, feigning ignorance. Julius slammed another fist down hard onto a plate, Whitney’s this time, effectively breaking it and provoking a few surprised gasps from the room’s inhabitants.

“Don’t play coy with me!”, his voice boomed and Percival instinctively took a step back. Julius quickly rummaged through his pockets and plonked down a few sheets of paper on the table in Percival’s direction. He was about to question him when his breath caught in his throat. That elegant calligraphy… When Julius didn’t continue, he swallowed and pillaged his mind for any excuse he could come up with.

“I—I told you before…”, his voice was meek, his tongue felt heavy and pasty. “I’m meeting this girl—”, he was caught off by raucous laughter.

“Ah, yes! You never did describe her, did you brother? Let me take a shot at guessing your type”, though his voice sounded almost joyous, there was nothing close to it on Julius’s face. He continued his path towards Percy, and with each step it was as if Percy was emitting a pungent smell from the twisting of Julius's expression.

“Dark, brown hair…”, one step forward, a tug at Percy’s heart.

“Messy. Usually braided…”, one step forward, another tug.

“Leather clothes lined with fur, a few blue feathers…”, Percy felt his stomach clenched dangerously. Though his head was held high, his eyes were cast down.

Julius was in front of him now, standing half a head over Percy. Maybe Julius was wrong… Maybe he just happened to be describing someone _like_ Vex’halia… He couldn’t possibly know…

“Half-elf”, Julius concluded. A pause. “Am I wrong?”

Percival looked up to meet his brother’s eyes. Tell a lie. Lie and move on with it. They’re waiting for you. His brother was one of the rare de Rolo’s, alongside him, to have been born with blue eyes. They were such beautiful eyes when he was smiling. They were dangerously piercing now though, like jagged shards of ice awaiting him at the bottom of a cliff. Tell a lie to those eyes.

Percival briefly looked down to swallow. He took a deep breath and looked up at his beloved brother’s eyes. A timid smile crept up at the edge of Percy’s mouth.

“She’s real, Julius”, he said weakly. Percy expected confusion, perhaps more anger. Instead, he was met with nothing new. The grimace from before remained and didn’t change. “She’s real, Julius,” he repeated with a little more confidence. “She’s flesh and bone! I’ve met with her, I talked to her! _Vex’halia_ is real!”

“No she’s not, Percival”, his voice had a tone of finality that didn’t encourage reproach. “It’s a sick prank someone is pulling on you to get money or something. _Vex’halia_ is a figment of your imagination”

“No, it can’t be a prank. This Vex’halia knows too much and resembles her too well to be anything _but_ the true individual”

“Then you are merely projecting your desires into this world. Vex’halia is a figment of your imagination and it is harmful for you, brother, to think otherwise”

“She is _real_ , Julius!”, he screamed, desperation quickly overcoming his mind. Julius took a small step back, running a hand over his face and slowly turning his back to Percival. “She is real, and she is waiting for me in the city along with her brother Vax’ildan and our friend Keyleth. Let me bring them here, let me prove to you how real they are by presenting them to you!”

“What I want is my sister back!”, Julius screamed in return, back still turned. He continued in a smaller voice, “What I want is my brother’s mind to be free from demons he has let roam free in his life for over two years now”. He turn back to face Percival, wet streaks on both his cheeks. “I want a healthy and sane family that will continue to grow strong and I can’t guarantee that when one is constantly running off and the other has effectively disappeared! For Pelor’s sake, Percival! Has your attitude changed so drastically since that robbery that you won’t even feign worry when your own darling Cassandra goes missing? Tell me, brother, around what time was it that you stopped considering yourself a de Rolo and have instead given yourself to a life of fancies?”

“Julius…”, Whitney exclaimed in a small, indignant voice. Percival looked to her and was met with her wet, pitiful stare. His gaze went around the room. In their passion, they had momentarily forgotten about their siblings still present in the room. The expressions in their eyes didn’t vary much from one to the other: pity, disbelief, anger, silent acceptance, or a mixture of the above. Percival could tell that they all agreed with Julius to a certain degree. Percival bent his head down and closed his eyes tight in a futile attempt at stopping the tears from coming.

Percival heard the receding footsteps of his brother. He heard the metallic sounds of the pitcher and the cup as they were lifted from the salon cabinet and he heard the sloshing of whiskey as it made contact with the cup. Percy turned his back to the room, raised his head high, and took a hesitant step forward. “I’m heading out”, he said in a broken voice. “I’ll go search for my sister.”

“No, you won’t”, Julius said. Percy glanced back to see him looking down into his cup. The eldest lifted his eyes to him, his fiery gaze from before exchanged for a sadden one. Percy frowned defiantly in response. Julius looked down into his cup again and in one swoop drank whatever alcohol had been remaining. He set the cup down and turned to face him, arms crossed.

“Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klowosski de Rolo the Third, you shall be quarantine to your chambers for your own safety and that of the others around you for however long deemed necessary. There will be guards stationed day and night at your doors. Your meals will be brought to you. Further details will be determined and transmitted to you by tomorrow evening. Guards!”

Five guards, most likely initially alerted by the shouting, emerged from the hallway. Three stood by Julius awaiting order while two remained blocking the doors. Percival didn’t think twice.  
Before Julius even had time to open his mouth again, Percival was sprinting. He bursted through the unguarded servants’ pass that lead to the nearby kitchen, bursting through and alarming a small crowd of servants that had been eavesdropping. Shouts and orders reached Percival’s ears but he continued running. He reached the kitchen and clumsily made his way through, knocking over pots and brooms until he pushed through the door into the hallway.

“There he is!”, shouted a Pale Guard at the other end of the hallway. Once again, Percival didn’t stop to think and simply continued ramming through the various hallways. He could hear the heavy clanking of boots and armours gradually gaining on him before losing him again once he made a sharp turn. He wouldn’t be able to continue like this. Already his breathing was heavy and his vision blurry. A familiar tapestry flashed in his mind. That would do, he thought. The vision of the final destination in mind brought a much needed extra boost of energy. One sharp turn, a second sharp turn… a guest emerging from their room. He quickly shoved the man back in his room, spinning him against the door to close it and keeping a hand on his mouth. The man protested for a moment before meeting Percy’s hard eyes and keeping still.

“Where is he?”  
“He disappeared!”  
“He was tiring quickly, he couldn’t have gone far!”  
“I think I heard a noise over there!”  
“Spread out! Find him before he escapes!”

The footsteps slowly faded out along with the voices, though occasionally an order or two could be heard. Thankfully, Percival knew approximately where he was within the castle and he knew that he was in the same wing as where the entry to the passageway resided. He waited another minute before turning back his gaze to his ‘prisoner’. His voice was low and husky when he spoke, “You never saw me pass this way. If the guards question you, you will convince them of your blissful ignorance or else…”. The man’s eyes were wide and he started to frantically nod his head in response. Percy gave him a final hard look as he tried to listen to the corridor for any incoming figure. Once he was content, he quickly shoved away the man and slipped through the door. He tried to be as stealthy as he could as he approached his salvation. Once he had the tapestry in view, he quickly tip toed over and pushed opened the small wooden opening to be assaulted by the dusty, lovely smell of the passageway.

In the darkness of the tunnel, two arms interlocked around Percival’s body, trapping him in an arm lock as he struggled against it.

“Forgive me, brother, but try to understand”, echoed the whispered voice of Julius.

The much stronger man started to drag him back through the entrance. When Julius unsuccessfully tried to push open the door with his body, he tried to quickly kick it instead. Seeing the opportunity, Percy spun as his brother was unbalanced. Both men went down hard on the ground. Percy was up first however. At least he had one advantage over Julius; he knew the passageway well enough without the light. Not losing hope, he made another attempt at dashing.

However, as much terrain advantage or hope as one might have, it won’t stop a fist from connecting with a temple and bringing darkness to their vision.


End file.
